


"I hate you."

by haikyucomforts



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Arranged Marriage, Denial of Feelings, Hate to Love, Hinata is kinda out of character, I'm not kidding just shut up and kiss you're obviously in love, Is anybody really straight, Literally just Kiss already, M/M, Relationship(s), Stereotypical Royalty
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:54:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 34,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28042746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haikyucomforts/pseuds/haikyucomforts
Summary: Hinata Shoyou.Prince of Aonatin, a Royal Kingdom neighboring to Sayner.Made of smiles and grins,very, very defensive and bitter when he tries.Kageyama Tobio.Prince of Sayner, a Royal Kingdom neighboring to Aonatin.Made of frowns and scowls,usually bitter and cunning, though maybe a little sweet if he tried. Which he doesn't.When their parents become close friends, the two are forced into some sort of relationship. Might it be friends, no. More as associates. The two tend to dislike each other, but the universe seems to have other things planned.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio
Comments: 33
Kudos: 97





	1. Chapter 1

"Really? They're coming to visit again?!" Hinata shouted at his mother, crossing his arms. He'd never been to fond of their neighboring Kingdom.

"Shoyou, 'hun, you know that your father and I are very close with the 'Kageyama family. Can't you at least try to like them?" Hinata's mom was speaking in a calm tone as she leaned into the mirror, applying what Hinata guessed to be mascara. Hinata clicked his tongue to the roof of his mouth, plopping down onto his mother's bed.

"I don't have a problem with the family, mom. The only person I have a problem with is _him_." Hinata scowled as he talked, ignoring his mom's very obvious judgmental look. 

"I don't see why. He's very handsome, and your age too." She said with a wink to Hinata. He gagged quite literally.

"Oh you come out as gay and suddenly every attractive man is gay as well and available" Hinata muttered under his breath, but his mom heard anyways and laughed.

"Try to be nice, would you? They're coming over for dinner to discuss again." Hinata rolled his eyes. The King and Queen of Sayner somehow became close friends with the King and Queen of Aonatin, Hinata's parents. He assumed it'd happened naturally when the Royal family of Sayner came to their Kingdom to suggest peace, or becoming an ally in case of an emergency in the future. Hinata remembered the day well, but only because that's where he met him. An awful experience, really.

* * *

_"We are honored that you've accepted our request to see us, your royal majesties." King Kageyama said, his elbow hooked around his wife's as he bowed. Hinata's mom smiled as his father said-_

_"Of course. We were very surprised to get your request." Hinata stood still next to his father, his arms crossed behind his back. He stayed silent and stared at the ground, knowing better than to interfere._

_"Please, follow us to the meeting room. Your son can stay here, and mine will accompany him as he waits." His father said. Hinata's gaze finally snapped up to look at the royal family of Sayner. Sure enough, there was a boy with blue hued black hair, charmingly blue eyes that looked near black to accompany it standing patiently next to his own parents, immediately making eye contact with Hinata. He felt his body shiver at the boy's icy glare. The boy was wearing an outfit similar to Hinata's. Black dress pants and shoes, along with his jacket, and his undershirt was a light grey. Hinata's pants, shoes, and jacket were all white, a beige undershirt. He noticed that the boy in front of him had his ears pierced with a sapphire gem earring._

_"Thank you. Tobio, we won't be long." The Sayner King said. Hinata's parents turned around and walked through the bronze metal doors beside them, the other Royal couple following close behind. The doors closed with a loud 'BANG', and then it was just Hinata and this boy alone._

_'Should I say something?' He thought to himself, then ultimately decided that that was the best option._

_He silently begged that his voice would sound clean and clear - not loud and high pitched like it usually was._

_"Hello, I'm Hinata Shoyou. Prince of Aonatin. May I ask your name?" He said in an almost monotone voice. The boy was silent for a few seconds, not breaking eye contact. Then he-_

_Scowled?_

_Hinata squinted, only a little though to avoid looking stupid. Yes, he was definitely scowling._

_"You may not." The boy said. Hinata felt his eyes widen slightly, taken aback._

_"Pardon?"_

_"I won't give you my name, Red." The boy said again._

_Red? Hinata's hair wasn't even red. Well- it was red technically, but more specifically orange. An obvious orange at that._

_Hinata stiffened. The boy was surprisingly rude. Most princes Hinata met were gentlemen with actual manners, being princes and all._

_"Red?" He tilted his head._

_"Red." The boy repeated._

_Hinata wasn't against the nickname really. Hell, perhaps the boy was trying to start a friendship with it. Friends have nicknames for each other, right?_

_"It's a shame you won't tell me your name. It'll be hard to address you." Hinata said, prying to know what the boy's name was._

_"Then don't. I don't intend on becoming friends with you, you know. I don't mean to be rude, but I'm only here because my parents asked me to be." The boy was unbelievably straightforward._

_Hinata nearly frowned but stopped himself beforehand, replacing the thought with a smile._

_"That's unfortunate then. But I'll have you know that I'm a great person to be with."_

_"Doubtful. You seem way too full of energy."_

_"What? Why would you think that? We've only been talking for-" Hinata paused and glanced over at the gold lined clock on the wall. It took him a second to figure it out because instead of regular numbers they were Roman Numerals. "-about three minutes." He finished._

_"You've been bouncing your leg this entire time." The boy said, lips curling down into a frown._

_Oh-_

_Hinata didn't even realize he'd been doing that. It was just a force of habit for him. He hated staying still for long._

_"You're a giddy one then aren't you." Hinata mumbled under his breath, rolling his eyes slightly._

_"'Scuse me?" The boy's words sounded sharp, nearly making Hinata flinch. His hard thinking of an appropriate thing to say was interrupted when the bronze doors opened once again, the Royal's coming out all smiling._

_"It was a pleasure speaking with you both." Hinata's father said, walking up behind Hinata._

_"As with you." The Sayner King smiled and he and his wife waved, putting an arm on either side of the blue eyed boy. The King bent down and whispered something in the boy's ear, making his right eyebrow twitch slightly._

_"Goodbye, Red." The boy said in a bland tone. Hinata frowned, now realizing that the nickname wasn't meant to be sweet or friendly. It was now clearly intended in a mocking way. Hinata didn't say anything back, though his mother pinched his forearm._

_The Sayner family left, finally._

_"Mother, what was that boy's name?" Hinata asked._

_"Kageyama. Kageyama Tobio." His mom responded with a warm smile._

* * *

That experience alone wasn't enough for Hinata to deem Kageyama a bad person. They were 14 at the time, now nearly 18. The friendship between the two's parents gradually grew, and they'd always visited in person along with sending letters. Hinata and Kageyama found they had many, many differences in personality. Kageyama would always insult Hinata on the smallest things, tease him, criticize him. Hinata did the same after about two weeks of trying to befriend him. The two were. . . not close, to say the least. In fact, Hinata near hated Kageyama. 

The Sayner royal family had been coming to Aonatin more frequently in the past month, much too often for Hinata's comfort. Kageyama was always forced to come. Neither of the teenage boys knew what their parents discussed when they went to the meeting room because they weren't allowed in. There were sometimes where the Sayner family would stay over for a night or two if not just for dinner. Their parents tried to convince Hinata and Kageyama to share a bed, but both of them harshly refused. It was no secret the two didn't like each other.

"Mom?" Hinata said, standing back up from the comfy bed in the master bedroom. It wasn't really a master bedroom because nearly every room in the palace was as huge as that. However, while Hinata had seven different rooms in the building, each with different design, he chose one of the smaller ones to actually sleep in. A King sized bed with charcoal sheets and a dark maroon comforter centered against the wall in the room, one large window with two smaller ones on the side, a vanity, dresser, and closet. It may sound large, but it really wasn't compared to others. Hinata wasn't fond of sleeping in large spaces because it made him feel small.

"Yes, Shou?" His mother replied, looking from the mirror to her son.

"What do you and the 'Kageyama family talk about in the meeting room?" He asked. His mom froze, and sighed.

"Unfortunately I can't tell you. Not now at least. But don't worry, you'll definitely find out soon enough." She said.

"Very suspicious, Mom." Hinata said with a smile.

"Well I'm going to go mentally prepare myself for the next five hours of agony - wait, are they spending the night again?" Hinata had started to walk out the door, but stopped to lean on the doorframe as he waited for his mothers answer.

"Yes. Only because there's meant to be a massive snow storm tomorrow." She said. Hinata furrowed his eyebrows.

"Well why would they come if there's a blizzard thing coming? Isn't that kind of dangerous?" He asked.

"Well the thing we want to talk about is much too important to do over a paper. We're hoping it'll die down and they'll only have to stay for one night." Though he was still skeptical about the whole thing, Hinata just nodded and walked back to his own room to overthink about what he'd do when Kageyama got there.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this chapter is so long! It's (literally) 4x longer than the last, so I'm sorry for that. I haven't proofread this, so please tell me if there are any spelling/grammatical errors!  
> Also, I'm doing more of the stereotypical royalty stuff, like Horse riding, learning to sword fight, fancy clothes, stuff like that. Also I'm sorry if the characters are out of character (I'm positive they are) and I've been trying to make them more cannon. If you have any tips, it's greatly appreciated

Hinata was lying on his bed in peace, headphones on as he listened to music. He was rudely interrupted, however, by the door opening. He snapped his eyes open only to see a familiar brunette standing at his doorway. He immediately smiled.

"Hey, Noya! What's up?" Hinata said as he sat up, pulling down his headphones. Noya grinned as he stepped inside of the room. While Nishinoya was technically one of Hinata's royal servants, he'd also been one of his bestfriends for the past three years.

"Hey Shoyou. Bad news." Hinata tilted his head as the boy continued. "Your parents want you to ride up and accompany the 'Kageyamas to the palace." An irritated look replaced his confused one as he heard that. Most of the time the 'Kageyamas came in an enclosed carriage with a 'driver' in the front, two to three horses pulling it along. It made sense he supposed, with the storm coming it was safer to have a direct escort to the palace, and Hinata just so happened to be exceptionally good at horse riding. He had no problem accompanying the family, the problem was that Kageyama never rode in the carriage with his parents. He always rode his own horse, riding next to the carriage apparently 'wanting to feel more in control'. Stupid reasoning, if you asked Hinata.

"Of course they do." Hinata paused as he stepped down from the bed, running his hand over his shirt sleeves and re-cuffing the ends. He looked at the ground as he approached his dresser. "Now?" He asked. Noya nodded.

"King Kageyama requested for you to be there by the time they were. They'll be reaching the gate in maybe 25 minutes or so." He said. Hinata's gaze shot back up and his eyes widened.

"25 Minutes?! I can hardly get there in 20!" He exclaimed. Nishinoya seemed to find his panic amusing, just laughing.

"Eh? Then you'd better go now, don't you think?" Noya said. Hinata tried his best to look annoyed as he rolled his eyes, but his smile betrayed him.

"Damn you, Noya." He said, half sarcastically. That looked to make Noya laugh even more. Out of his closet, Hinata pulled a black, velvety looking coat with black metal buttons running up it. It was a bit long on him, reaching down to his mid thigh. It provided a lot of warmth though, so he denied when his families tailor offered to fix it. 

He slipped on black smooth leather boots -specifically for the purpose of horse riding- that reached just below his knee. Along with that, he quickly grabbed a grey scarf and wrapped it around his neck. It was long enough to cover his mouth and below.

"I'll see you later?" Hinata asked as he walked past Noya and out the door. He saw Noya nod and leave the room as well, most likely heading back to the servants quarters. Hinata made sure that their servants were treated well, a majority of them being his friends. It was only natural. After all, Hinata had never really been able to play with other children as kid. He would often sneak out talk to the lower of their kingdoms hierarchy. He didn't really realize about social classes, and how it wasn't normal for a prince to be talking to a 'commoner'. Parents often kept their kids away from Hinata, scared of being punished for something they hadn't done. He was always found by guards, every time he was told to stay away from people who were less fortunate than him. 

Eventually, he stopped sneaking out around the age of 7. Though he still often went out to the local villages and talked to people on farms or shops, checking in on everybody. His parents felt strongly against it at first but soon realized there was nothing they could do to prevent him from doing this. There was once they threatened to keep Hinata in the place permanently for the next two months, and that sounded more agonizing than anything to Hinata. Don't get him wrong, he liked the palace. It was his home. But it was also big, and confusing. He ended up memorizing every room at a fairly young age, but it didn't remove the bother he had walking all the time. So Hinata had stopped going to the villages completely, however much he was against it. He didn't like defying his parents. Long story short, he never really got along with the other Princes from other kingdoms, so he befriended the workers.

Hinata intertwined his fingers together and laid them on top of his head as he walked down the hallways. There was an ongoing carpet that reached all the way to the end. It was a dark red with even darker red patterns on it, and a gold lace on the sides. The walls were a cream color, indented vertical rectangles going all the way up and all the way down, all about a foot apart from each other. There were a few windows on the left side too, making a beautiful view of the garden. There were all sorts of flowers there - Hinata adored flowers. He loved that all of them looked so different and each had their own meaning or symbolism. 

Soon enough Hinata reached his destination and walked out into the stables. The wind was already harsher than usual, clouds moving fast. It was obvious the storm would come soon. He sighed as he pulled black grip gloves over his hands so he could be a bit warmer while riding safely, then put on his black riding helmet - which covered his ever so recognizable orange hair - before walking up to his horse, Ares. His horse was a beautiful mare, a gray Hackney horse. Her legs were a black which faded smoothly into the gray the rest of her pelt was, her mane blonde. He'd gotten her when she was just a foal, and when he'd turned 15 - so about three years ago. She really was beautiful. Hinata's family had gotten many offers to buy her, but Hinata refused them all. His parents had let the choice fall on him, saying as the horse was rightfully his. He wanted to name her after Ares, the Greek god of war. He'd always been interested in Greek mythology, even as a child.

Hinata set up the saddle on Ares's back before setting his foot against the stirrup and pulling himself up and onto the horse. He adjusted the bridles so she would feel more comfortable yet secure, then the reins, and rubbed her neck shortly. He squeezed his legs. Ares immediately started going and Hinata checked his watch. Based on what Noya had said, he had about 17 more minutes to get there. He'd be cutting it awful close if continued at the speed he was, so he moved roughly between a canter and gallop.

Horse riding was fun and all, but it scared Hinata a little, if he was being honest. He started learning when he was 11, and on his third day of 'training' or lessons, the horse threw him off of it's back as it reared, most likely afraid of the small boy. Let's just say Hinata hadn't been the best at horse riding, but it was apparently necessary for him to know as a prince. By the time he actually got good at it, he learned to enjoy it. Everything was better when he got Ares, too. She was a calm horse, but only towards people she knew and was familiar with. Otherwise, she was incredibly standoffish. 

Hinata was practically squinting the entire way to the front gates of the Kingdom, blocking his eyes from the freezing wind. He definitely should've worn warmer clothes. Eventually he slowed down to a trot, then just to a walk as he spotted two of the royal guards. He wasn't sure of their names, though, not recognizing them. He came to a stop when he realized the guards had been talking to him.

"E-excuse us, but we're awaiting the Royal family of Sayner, so if you could please come back later and- ow! Hey!" The person next to the man talking had elbowed him, interrupting his nervous stuttering. The first guard who'd been talking had light brown hair that was pulled back into a bun, the collar of his uniform tucked perfectly under his spice moroccan spice coat. It made sense that would be his coat color, as it was the others as well. Moroccan spice was an interesting color, like a dusty rose mixed with a brown. But it was the Royal color of Aonatin, and pretty nonetheless. 

The man who had elbowed him was shorter than the brunette, having blond hair that fell gently in front of his eyes. There was a beauty mark on his face which somehow suited him well.

"Asahi! That's Ares!" The gray haired boy hissed. The color in the brunette, 'Asahi's face dropped, from the cold or from fear, that's something we'll never know.

"Ares? Ares as in the Prince's horse?" The man's voice cracked as he spoke, and Hinata couldn't help but smile. Before the gray haired boy had a chance to respond, Hinata pulled down his scarf and tucked it under his chin, making himself more recognizable.

Asahi's soul seemed to leave his body, and the gray haired man's eyes widened in fear. Maybe they thought he'd fire them, or yell. But instead he just kept his smile and laughed lightly.

"Don't look so worried. It's alright. Are you guys new at the palace?" Both of the guards nodded.

"I'm so sorry about earlier. We've both been stressed is all. I'm Sugawara Koushi, and this is my friend- coworker, Asahi Azumane. Please forgive us, your highness." The gray haired boy said with a bow and a happy, yet fearful smile.

"Of course, it's all right. I understand the pressure of working with a new job. And there's no need to be formal, you can just call me Hinata." Hinata said, his smile growing larger. The two guards just looked at each other and nodded awkwardly.

"Oh, and I suggest you talk to Daichi later. He's the captain of our servants, he can better show you around your sleeping quarters." Hinata added.

"Thank you, your Highn- er, Sir Hinata. I'm really sorry about my misunderstanding." This time it was Asahi who spoke, looking nervous. Hinata just nodded, taking note to how he still added the 'Sir' before his name. It wasn't a bad thing, it was respectful even. Hinata just didn't want them to feel afraid of him.

"I'm meant to meet the 'Kageyama family at the gate. It that alright?" Hinata said sarcastically. Asahi seemed to snap back to reality because he kept nodding and smiling excessively, Suga doing it right by his side. Hinata giggled a bit before pulling his scarf back up and edging for Ares to go forwards again.

The gate wasn't too far ahead, maybe 10 feet or so. He trotted the remainder of the way on the paved brick way to the bronze metal gate. There were multiple gates leading into their Kingdom, but this was the main one where all Royals came and left. Obviously, people who lived in villages were able to come and go as they pleased. The gates were only there for when they got visitors from a different area. 

Hinata glanced at his watch. He'd gotten there in no longer than 20 minutes, which was the supposed time they'd be there. Yet, there were no carriages nor horses in sight. Hinata frowned and tilted his head.

_Why aren't they here?_

Then it hit him. There was going to be blizzard that night, but that didn't mean it couldn't reach some places early. Hinata's eyes widened in fear as he quickly squeezed his leg once again, gently rubbing Ares neck. She instantly took off in a canter, which quickly turned into a gallop. Hinata tried not to go as fast as usual, cautious of the slightly iced over roads. It wasn't a lot, and it was only in some areas, but there was no way in hell Hinata would risk Ares's safety.

The main gate where Hinata had been first focused on a main road, no splits anywhere. It went for about a mile or two. Hinata didn't really understand why have such a one route option, but it's not like he had anything to do with it anyways. The roads were all a dark gray, smooth as if they'd been newly paved. There were pine trees all along the sides leading to a dark and deep forest. The forest supposedly went on for miles upon miles, but Hinata had never tested that. His family didn't allow him to go in the forest.

Despite not going as fast as they could, Ares and Hinata made haste. Ares was surprisingly fast, she could be an amazing race horse. Though Hinata wasn't too keen on that idea. 

It'd been about five minutes, luckily no snow, but still no sight of the 'Kageyama family anywhere. That is, until Hinata saw a certain Friesian horse with a black pelt coming full speed towards Hinata and Ares. They hadn't seemed to notice them until now either, because the rider pulled back on the reigns hard - Hinata did the same. Both of the horses stood back on their hind legs letting out rough 'neighs'. Hinata felt his heart practically beating out of his chest in fear. He held his feet tight against his horse and used all of the upper body strength he could to prevent from falling.

"Ares- Ares!" He shouted, trying to at least calm the Mare even a little. He couldn't blame her from freaking out. They'd nearly slammed into another rider, leading to an abrupt stop. Still, rearing was new for her, and Hinata had never seen her do it. Let alone be riding her at the time. He put his hand on her neck and she instantly relaxed, falling back onto the ground. Before Hinata could check himself for any injuries, he immediately stepped off Ares, nearly falling straight to the ground, his knees trembling softly from adrenaline. He had to pause before going anywhere, his breath shaking.

But the reason he got off was much more important. The rider on the gorgeous black horse had fallen when they reared, and Hinata knew just how painful that could be. He ran over quickly to the other rider, not being the slightest surprised when he saw their face. He held out his hand. Though reluctant, the other grabbed it and pulled himself up, rubbing his shoulder and wincing in pain.

"You idiot! Why would you be galloping at full speed without paying attention to your surroundings!" Hinata yelled, squeezing the other's hand (which he'd yet to let go) painfully tight. 

"Idiot? You did the same thing! If you didn't then we wouldn't be in this situation! And let go of my hand, you'd think you'd be a little easier on me after falling off my goddamn horse, dumbass Hinata." They said. Hinata clicked his tongue and let go, feeling his face heat up from embarrassment. He'd done that subconsciously. 

"GAH- You drive me _insane_ Kageyama!" Hinata countered. Kageyama scowled.

"Likewise." He said blandly.

"Where's the rest of your family anyways?" Hinata said with a sigh before giving a short whistle, Ares quickly walking to stand by his side. He gently placed his hand on the side of her head and gave a sad look, looking for any more signs of worry or violence.

"The carriage got stuck in mud on the side of the road. My father asked me to go ahead and tell you guys that they would be late." Kageyama said. He paused briefly before adding- "Why're you here anyways?" 

Hinata shrugged.

"When you weren't there I was worried that the blizzard might've came early in your Kingdom, thought maybe there was an issue with the snow. As much as I hate you I don't really want you to die." Hinata said, refusing eye contact.

"Oh?" Kageyama replied with a smirk.

"Shut up. I said I hate you. I, personally, would rather die myself than hang out with you of my own will. But if you were dead then I wouldn't have anybody to bother, hm?" Hinata glared at Kageyama as he spoke, cheeks flushing red. He hoped that it wasn't noticeable, considering his face was already red from the cold.

"How's Venus?" Hinata asked, desperate to change the subject. The two looked over to the black coated mare. She seemed calm enough, just standing there with the occasional look over to the two princes.

"She should be fine. It's not often for her to freak out like that, but it's understandable this time." Kageyama said. Hinata hesitated before his next words.

"And you?" He asked. It's true, if he saw Kageyama getting kidnapped by some mass murderer, Hinata maybe, just maybe, would pull a blind eye. Metaphorically, of course. Ha... ha. . .

Either way, he was still a good person at heart. Kageyama looked at him a blinked, then blinked again. The two were just looking at each other in silence. Kageyama was wearing his hair as he always did, black riding pants that still looked formal, a black coat much like Hinata's, and a navy riding helmet.

"I'm fine. I might get some ice for my shoulder later, I think I fell on it wrong." Kageyama said as he finally looked away. Hinata just nodded as he put a gentle hand on Kageyama's horses, Venus's, muzzle. She neighed softly at him. Animals usually liked Hinata.

"Should we go back then? To your parents, I mean." Hinata said, regaining eye contact once again. Ugh. Being near Kageyama made him annoyed. Hearing Kageyama's voice made him annoyed. Seeing Kageyama's stupid face and stupid blue eyes made him annoyed most of all. Honestly, Kageyama's existence just made him irritated.

_He hated Kageyama Tobio._

Kageyama Tobio hated him.

And they were fine with that.

"Yeah. I'll lead." With that, Kageyama turned to Venus and once again pulled himself up. Hinata acted like he didn't notice when Kageyama flinched in pain when he hit his shoulder on his way up.

"Obviously." Hinata mumbled under his breath. Kageyama glared at him afterwards, but if he heard, he didn't say anything. Hinata got back onto Ares as well and followed Kageyama forwards in a light trot.

~

It didn't take long to reach the carriage, maybe just a few minutes. It was rested on the side of the road as two riders/drivers stepped back to the front of the carriage looking ready to leave again, but stopped when they saw Kageyama and Hinata coming up to them. Hinata assumed they'd only just gotten out from the mud. One of the front riders knocked on the back of the carriage, and right after the side door opened and outstepped the King of Sayner.

"Tobio, Shoyou! We managed to get out of the mud." He said with a hearty laugh. "It's good to see you, my boy." The king looked at Hinata as he spoke. Hinata just smiled.

"It's nice to see you too! I'll be sure that your carriage is cleaned when we reach the royal palace. There's no injuries right?" Hinata asked. King Kageyama just shook his head and pet Ares's nose.

"Tobio, was your ride to Aonatin well?" Kageyama's breath hitched at the question. He and Hinata looked at each other with a knowing glance, Kageyama seeming to ask Hinata what to say. Hinata just shrugged and shook his head. Obviously they were already in Aonatin boundaries, but it was implied that the King meant the actual Kingdom.

"Uh- yeah, it was fine." Kageyama said with a slow nod, shifting his gaze back to his father.

"That's good to hear. Now that we're out of the mud, you boys can get going ahead ey?" King Kageyama said. Hinata furrowed his eyebrows.

"Didn't you ask me to accompany you on your way to the palace?" Hinata said, tilting his head. The King looked awkwardly to the side before responding, and Hinata looked over to Kageyama, who looked equally confused.

"I did, but I think Ichika and I will be able to manage. I'm terribly sorry for dragging you out here, Shoyou." Ichika was the queens first name, Hinata had found that out on his own gradually. The King kept avoiding eye contact so Hinata couldn't say he was %100 believing of what he said, but he just shrugged it off.

"That's fine, Sir. I guess I'll see you back at the palace then?" Hinata said. The King smiled and nodded, giving his son a quick wave before stepping back into the carriage. Hinata quickly turned back to Kageyama, Kageyama doing the same. The two stared in silence before-

"I'll race you back." Hinata said, taking off in a canter first before waiting for a response.

"Goddamn it, Hinata!" He heard Kageyama call back before following after him. _Hinata_. Kageyama still called him 'Red' often, but after a few physical fights, Hinata managed to convince Kageyama to refer to him as his name a majority of the time. It took a few lectures from their parents as well. Hinata was aiming for the constant use of his last name, but to little success.

The two were already a large distance from the carriage, making it impossible to hear the King and Queens conversation. The couple didn't say anything before the King broke the silence.

"We need to do a better job at getting them as friends before we tell them. We don't want a break of our alliance with Aonatin." The Queen nodded in agreement, and the carriage started once again on it's way to the Kingdom.

~

Hinata won. 

Kageyama spent his precious time sulking as the two stepped off their horses and led them back to the stables. It had already started to flurry, and it was obvious that the snow would get more violent. Hinata took off his helmet and ran his hands through his hair.

"I'm sure you know your way around the palace by now." Hinata said as he stepped back inside the palace, Kageyama following close behind him.

"Not at all." The raven haired man said. Hinata just rolled his eyes as he walked down the hallways.

"Are you just going to follow me back to my room?" Hinata crossed his arms and shot Kageyama an annoyed glance.

"You haven't told me anywhere to go." Kageyama replied with a shrug. Hinata huffed and stopped walking, about to insult the boy when Nishinoya came up from behind him, putting a hand on his shoulder. Hinata practically jumped a foot in the air, startled, resulting in a snicker from Kageyama.

"Hey, Shou!" Noya said with a grin. Hesitantly, he turned to Kageyama and bowed. He didn't like Kageyama either, hearing everything Hinata said about him. But it would've been incredibly disrespectful for him not to bow, considering it was neighboring royalty.

"Noya, hey! What's up?" Hinata said as his mind slowly slowed down again.

"Nothing. I was just on my break and wondering if you wanted to come with me to the garden." Noya paused before looking over to Kageyama. "You can come too if you want, your Highness." He added. Kageyama frowned. He wasn't fond of being called things like your Highness either, but his father refused to let him be called anything else. His parents thought that it was "a sign of weakness" to be addressed so informally. He was almost jealous that Hinata could talk to his servants so casually, a majority of Kageyama's hating him.

Hinata looked over to Kageyama before turning back to Noya.

"Sure!" He said, following Noya out to the garden. Kageyama sighed, but he didn't have anything better to do, so he went with them. It was kind of weird being so much taller than the both of them, Nishinoya somehow managing to be shorter than Hinata. 

The garden was nice, multiple different arrangements of different flower types. It was well organized, that's for sure. Hinata immediately ran towards a bundle of flowers that were arranged in a spiral circle pattern. Hinata's eyes practically lit up at the sight of the black flowers that almost looked like a dark blue. 

"Oh, that's that one you always talk about, right?" Noya said, looking over from the red leafy flower he'd been looking at. Kageyama just stood behind the two, silently listening in on their conversation.

"Yeah, Black Velvet Petunia's. I just think they're so pretty." Hinata said with a blinding smile that almost hurt to see. As much as Kageyama wanted to throw Hinata across the room, he couldn't deny that Hinata had a stunning smile. Not in the way that could charm girls in the type of way like the cliché handsome dude in a movie, but it was pure, and it always looked full with genuine happiness. Then again, everybody can make happiness up. It was impossible to tell if it was genuine in Hinata - happiness was practically his only emotion that he showed. Well, except when he was around Kageyama. His smile always fell and his eyes filled with annoyance, sometimes hatred. It didn't bother Kageyama in the slightest because he was sure his hate for the redhead was just as visible.

"What's it mean?" Noya asked, leaning in to see the flower better.

"It's usually associated to anger, or seek of approval." Hinata paused and smiled fondly at the smile. Kageyama tilted his head and furrowed his eyebrows. Hinata's expression was different, one he'd never seen. He looked deep in thought (that was the most surprising part, as the boy never thought about anything), and his gaze on the flower was unreadable. The smile was different too, but Kageyama couldn't pin down what of it.

"This one's dying." Hinata's smile turned into a short frown, but he quickly stood up. "I guess that's what you expect from winter eh? What about you, Noya? Do you have a favorite flower?" Hinata asked, his usual bright smile returning. 

* * *

Hinata and Noya broke off into conversation, Kageyama stepping away and headed back inside. It was much to cold outside for his taste, especially with more snow falling. It's not like he didn't like snow, but he'd much rather be warm inside. So he walked down the halls which he somehow managed to memorize and walked down to one of the guest rooms - his technical room whenever his family visited. It was straight across from Hinata's.

For some reason, it felt like the rulers of the two Kingdoms were trying to push the two together. Kageyama found it odd. They'd hadn't really cared if they were friends or not before, why were they trying so hard now?

Kageyama decided not to think too hard about it. His back and shoulder were still aching from his fall, so he changed out of his royal clothes and into black basketball shorts and a light gray hoodie. His family didn't approve when he wore such casual clothes in front of others, especially other Royals. But for some reason his parent's had been letting him do more of the things he usually has to hide in front of the 'Hinata family. Why was that?

Okay, so maybe he would think about it. But seriously - it was only the 'Hinata family. Had they really gotten a bond so close? If Kageyama didn't know any better, he might think that the entire situation was like he and Hi-

He immediately pushed away that thought, the memory of it making his heart drop. He'd rather gouge his eyes out with a spoon than have that be happening. Plus, his parents didn't seem the type to do that. Right? 

. . .

It was very possible really. Kageyama groaned into his pillow as he flopped onto the King bed, huddling up into the blankets. His shoulder hurt, he got five hours of sleep the previous night, and his thoughts seemed to be brutally murdering him. It'd be a slow, agonizing death.

Not even a few minutes later, Kageyama had fallen asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The fact that I spent half an hour researching horse breeds and what to do with riding them is sad. 
> 
> Did you guys see what I did with the horse names - In greek Mythology Ares (god of war) fell in love with Aphrodite (god of love/beauty) and her Roman name, or planet name persay, was Venus. Ares fell in love with Aphrodite and I thought it'd be cool to add something like that in so-
> 
> aNyWhO Any guesses to what Kageyama thought was happening? I already have the whole thing planned in my head, just waiting for the reveal :))


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO sorry that this is so late. If there are any spelling/grammatical errors please tell me and I'll go back and fix them. And I'm also sorry that this is even longer than the last chapter, 5,505 words- But I hope you like it lmao

Kageyama let out a loud groan of annoyance as he covered his ears with a pillow. Meanwhile, Hinata was standing on the opposite side of the bedroom door and knocking repeatedly. 

"Wake up, Kageyama!" Hinata said for the fourth time. When the knocking seemed to get violent enough it could make a hole through the door, Kageyama threw his pillow and bolted up, stomping to the door.

"Shut up, Red! Don't you have anything better to do!?" Kageyama barked as he slammed the door open. Misjudging where Hinata would be, he ended up with his face centimeters from the redhead's, who's hand was up mid-knock. The two boys froze at their sudden closeness. Kageyama was able to recognize some things he hadn't before. How Hinata's face was dusted with light freckles, how he had sun kissed cheeks, how he seemed to have golden flakes in his eyes, how overall, the boy was quite pretty. Wait, what? Kageyama flinched back, surprised at his own thoughts at the same time Hinata practically jumped four feet back.

"Idiot! You have no concept of personal space!" Hinata said with a red face from embarrassment. Kageyama just scowled and crossed his arms, rolling his eyes.

"-and don't call me Red. Your parents asked me to get you for dinner." Hinata crossed his arms as well and mimicked Kageyama's stance. Kageyama frowned before glancing down to Hinata's outfit. He was wearing jeans and a loose long sleeved shirt, which was unusual.

"I'm assuming we're allowed to dress down then?" Kageyama said sarcastically, resulting in a scoff from Hinata.

"They didn't seem to care about our outfits today, they said they 'had something to tell us'. So that should be fun." Hinata avoided eye contact as he spoke. Kageyama leaned on the door frame in silence for a few seconds before responding.

"Alright, I'll be there in five minutes or so." Without giving Hinata a chance to respond, he closed the door as fast as he'd opened it. Hinata just furrowed his brows and walked off down the hallways and towards the dining room.

~

There were two dining rooms in the palace (there were eight in different areas of the palace, but these were the main two) that were each used for different things. Well, the same things. The first had eight seats, two on each 'short' side of the table and two on each 'long' side. Then there was the one that had twelve seats, two on each short side and four on each long side. Obviously they'd be using the smaller room today. 

There was the same moroccan spice colored table cloth draped over the table as the color coat the guard had been wearing -where even are those guards?- Hinata hadn't seen them since earlier, and it was already 4:00 in the afternoon. Their shift should be over by now, right?

"Good Evening!" Hinata said with a bright smile before sitting down at the table next to his 11 year old sister, Natsu. She seemed to dress down as well, wearing a maroon sweatshirt and black shorts. Why was she wearing shorts in the cold season? No clue, but it was warm enough in the room. 

Both the Royal couples just smiled in response. Miwa, Kageyama's elder sister was already sitting at the table as well, across Natsu. Hinata tried his best not to frown at that fact because it meant Kageyama would be sitting in front of him.

Sure enough, a few minutes later Kageyama came in and sat down without a word. Nobody said anything or even looked at each other. Eventually two waitresses came out holding plates of Onigiri and passed them to everybody seated at the table. Hinata said a quiet thank you before they walked back into the kitchen area. The two families said a short prayer before eating. The silence was deafening.

"So, you said you had something to tell us?" It was Hinata who broke the silence, looking up at his mother. She smiled lightly and nodded, though it was the Sayner King who answered.

"Yes, we were thinking of-" He paused mid sentence, shooting a glance to Hinata's father who just nodded. Kageyama frowned and rose an eyebrow, his gaze shifting between the two Kings.

"- of having a ball. A joint ball with both of our Kingdoms, accompanied by some of both our neighboring Kingdoms. Near the end of the month." He concluded. Hinata's face seemed to light up. 

"Is Nekoma coming then?" Hinata asked, looking up from his plate. Nekoma was one of the Kingdom's near Aonatin. Hinata was close with the Prince, Kenma Kozume. They dated once, but only for two weeks. They were friends before they dated and decided it was better that way, there were no hard feelings between the two and they were still close friends. It was a mutual, clean breakup.

"I'm sure they will, though they haven't responded to our invitation yet." His father said. 

"And Aoba Johsai?" This time it was Kageyama who spoke. 

"Yes, they already contacted us back actually." Kageyama's frown somehow deepened at this response and he let out a sigh. Hinata wasn't sure why. He'd never met anybody from the Aoba Johsai Kingdom of course, but he couldn't imagine anything wrong with them.

"Do I have to wear a dress" Natsu said, scrunching her nose. Hinata smiled at her and laughed softly at the sight.

"I'm afraid you do, Natsu." His mother said with a smile. Hinata was often told that he got his smile from his mom- both lighting up the room. Natsu pouted before continuing to eat.

~

Nothing much happened at the dinner after that, everybody just ate in an awkward silence. Hinata ate as fast as he could and immediately excused himself from the table, receiving a few questioning glances from both his parents and Kageyama. Though he gave no explanation and rushed back to his room, tripping on his feet. He hurried to put on a thin, black, long sleeved shirt with a long hood, a sweater and the same black coat from earlier above that. It'd be good to have an extra layer with the sweater. Hinata turned to look over at his window.

His mom certainly wasn't lying when she said there would be a snow storm. Hinata frowned. Everything was nearly coated in a fresh white snow, and it was still coming down fast. He tilted his head and contemplated really going forward with his original plan. He wanted to visit the village. Whenever he went, he never really showed his face. Well, no. He covered himself with a hood so it would be harder to recognize him at the least. He's easily recognized by his orange hair. Most people in Aonatin, even Sayner usually had brown or black hair. It's not like he wanted everybody to find out the Prince of the Kingdom was in the village, especially not his parents.

Hinata let out a huff and flipped his hood over his head. There was no way he'd let a little (little?) snow change what he'd been planning. He was only ever able to go once a month at random so his parents didn't pick up a pattern, but he still planned his visits before hand. Not that he was very organized with it all, he only planned the day he wanted to go.

Assuming it was too cold for jeans, he put on a pair of thicker pants he didn't even know the name of - but they were black, high-waisted and warm so that was enough for him. And it didn't hurt that they were a bit more formal so he'd go without a lecture just in case he was caught.

He looked around his room frantically before his gaze stopped on a familiar brown leather bag. It was kind of a big bag, but he needed to fit enough stuff. So maybe when he said he planned going on this day specifically ahead of time, he meant that he decided just that morning. It wasn't a secret that most people in the village were less fortunate when it came to housing. 

While some were middle class with houses that had warm beds and heaters, food and clean water, some people hid away in random barns to attempt to get away from the cold, stealing food if necessary. Hinata had tried to ask his parents to at least donate to the people living in the village, and they did, but it didn't help much. So he figured instead of going with just bread (it was the only thing he could take with him without kitchen staff noticing something was missing, and everything else was just ingredients anyways) he would also bring blankets for those who needed it after his mother told him about the storm.

He'd already put the food and blankets in his bag. Grabbing the bag, Hinata glanced towards his nightstand where his crown laid. His parents said he was meant to bring it everywhere in the case he wasn't recognized, but it didn't seem necessary in this case. Hinata quickly turned away and dashed out his doorway. Sure, if he ran there was a larger chance he'd be heard, but less a chance he'd be recognized. The loud stomping sounds didn't help much either.

As Hinata ran, he saw a familiar Prince standing at one of the hallway intersections. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as they made eye contact for a split second, but Hinata quickly reached up and pulled the ends of his hood down more. If Kageyama recognized him, he didn't say anything. Or follow him at that, which Hinata silently thanked him for. He was used to those halls being empty, but then again most of the time the 'Kageyama family wasn't visiting. Hinata slid out one of the back doors that led outside the Palace, unaware that a pair of blue eyes followed him all the way down the hall.

The stables weren't connected to the Palace. Technically they were, but there was only one door leading in and outside of the Palace and stables. There was a lock on the door and Daichi was the only one with the key besides the King, and it had already been locked for the evening. Hinata didn't mind. It was only a ten minute walk or so. Okay, so maybe it was a bit of a distance to walk in freezing weather, but it was fine to him.

When Hinata reached the stables he quickly put blankets on all of the horse's there. Sure there were multiple heaters in the stables used for occasions like this, but it was still cold. The only horse Hinata didn't put a blanket on was a brown stallion Morgan horse named Chem. He would've ridden Ares like usual, but she was known all around to be Hinata's horse. It would've been a dead give away to his identity. So he hoisted himself up onto the horse as he set his foot up on a stirrup, quickly kicking his legs on the side to get Chem to go. Chem was a fast horse, Hinata couldn't deny that, but he was. . .difficult to say the least. 

He often left his riders on the spot, running off and away. Most of the time he somehow managed to get back to the stables, and there was no reasoning for why he ran. He was just spooked easily for the most. 'Why's Hinata riding him then?' Hinata isn't really aware to the consequences. He'd only ridden Chem once, and that time he stayed put, so he just assumed that it wasn't that big a deal. And of course the fact that he was the second fastest horse besides Ares. What Hinata wasn't aware of was that Chem had never ridden through large amounts of snow before. Light flurries dusting the ground, sure. But not feet of it - as it would be later. But what could possibly go wrong with that, right?

The snow really was getting harsh, but he could still see okay. That's not true. He could probably see twenty feet in front of him before it gets blurry. Despite all of the signs screaming at him to turn back, Hinata continued onto the village. The village was far from the Palace. It took him 20 minutes at best to reach just the gate that led out of the Kingdom, so you'd assume it'd take less than that to get to the village, right? Wrong. Usually it either took the same amount of time or longer. There were so many turns in roads, the long, long driveway leading away from the palace, and traffic (though he imagined there would hardly be any, guessing people were already seeking shelter from the storm). The snow might add a longer time, but he had time. It was almost 5:30, the sun would be setting soon. The sun set surprisingly early during the cold season in Aonatin, much to Hinata's annoyance. 

~

Hinata ended up reaching the village near 25 minutes. Well, near the village. The roads were no longer paved as they were outside of the Kingdom and at the palace, instead made of gravel, loose rocks scattered all around. He hated those roads, having slipped on the rocks multiple times before. Chem had slowed down to a trot, and Hinata smiled to himself as he lifted his hood up slightly, looking at all the different wooden signs pointing to where separate areas in the village were. Of course there were multiple villages, but Hinata really just meant 'The Village' when he said that. There was one large village that was divided into multiple sections, so if you wanted you could consider each 'section' it's own village.

Eventually, he reached the area Aonatins called 'The Common Point'.

;;Aonatins- Somebody who lives/is a citizen in the Kingdom of Aonatin;;

The Common Point was just the middle of the village, many shops and markets, fountains, benches, and even a toy shop for children. It was the most popular spot, people all along Aonatin villages came to visit the place. Hinata grinned, but pulled his hood down lower. However cold the snow was, it at least helped hide his appearance a bit more. He stepped off of Chem and took the reigns tight in his hand, grateful that he decided to wear gloves. Hinata walked him over to the local stables. They weren't really stables, but it was somewhere to tie your horse so they didn't run away. Plus there was a lock on each stable that you could rent so nobody would take the horse inside.

As Hinata started to get Chem situated, somebody grabbed his wrist. His head snapped up and he could just barely see a full grown man with bleached hair pulled back with a headband standing next to him, Hinata's hood covering his eyes nearly completely. He bit his bottom lip hard, thinking of all the possible things he could've done wrong.

"Sir?" He asked, cringing when his voice cracked. The blond man sighed before responding.

"It's 400 yen to use the lock, kid." The man said. Hinata let out a breath of relief. He assumed he'd gotten into trouble somehow.

"Of course, sir." He said as he reached his hand into his pocket and handed the man what was rightfully owed. Hinata quickly locked the door to where Chem was after putting his helmet away as well, and was about to walk away as he grabbed his bag until-

"Say, kid, you look a little young to be out here in the cold alone. Where's your parents?" The man said. Hinata tried his best not to scowl. Once again he'd been judged as a young boy because of his small, short body structure.

"I-I'm actually 18, Sir." Not true. He was 17, turning 18 in two months. The man rose in eyebrow before raising his hand, reaching for Hinata's hood. Hinata's eyes widened and he quickly slapped the man's hand away, freezing in place when he realized what he'd done. The man looked to be a worker, supposedly guarding the stables. Hinata confirmed his suspicions when he glanced down to the mans chest to see a name tag with the name " _UKAI_ " engraved. He could've sworn he'd recognized the name Ukai somewhere, but his attention was on a different matter to pay much attention to the name.

Hinata slowly curled his lips into a smile, laughing awkwardly.

"Er- I'd appreciate to keep my hood on if you don't mind, Mr. Ukai. It's- it's really cold out." Hinata said, ducking his head down lower and holding his bag closer to him.

"You seem familiar. Your voice, I mean. Hey, what did you say your name was?"

"I didn't say my name." Hinata's body tensed, and he got ready to sprint in the other direction. He already had his key to get Chem back later, why did he need to talk to 'Ukai'? 

Ukai took a bit to respond, his gaze shifting between Chem and Hinata. Then he nodded slowly.

"Alright then. Make sure you get home before the storm worsens. I heard there'll be some vicious hail." _Hail?_ Hinata's mind stopped functioning for a second. Hail was bad. If it was bigger than just the small bits of it, it could cause actual damage. Bruises, maybe even draw blood if somebody was stuck in the middle of a hail storm. Hinata shivered at the thought. He'd be back to the palace before that, right?

"Alright!" Hinata's usual enthusiasm seemed to return. "Thank you!" He said before quickly running off. Was he jumping in the snow piles? Maybe. But he'd never admit to it.

There were lots of people. Kids, teenagers, mothers. There was a little girl sticking her tongue out trying to catch a snowflake, grinning. Though a woman Hinata assumed was her mom quickly rushed to her side and scooper her up, scolding her about getting a cold. Hinata smiled at the sight before going to the usual spot he checked first when he visited - one of the small abandoned farm houses.

It was in good condition, but nobody had any use for it anymore. It was well known that lot's of people took shelter there. Hinata ran over across to the other side of The Common Spot, running behind the building. All the actual doors were locked. Nobody was really supposed to be in there, and if any kid without an adult was caught there then they were usually 'arrested', or at least punished. Mainly kids were there, kids without parents - way too young to go to jail.

Hinata slipped one of the loose wooden planks on the back of the building away, silently creeping inside of the dark building. The area was dead silent, hardly lit from the outside light. Hinata opened his bag as quietly as he could and pulled out a flashlight he'd packed earlier, turning it on. When he did, there were multiple gasps. Some out of fear, others out of surprise. Hinata made a 'shh' noise and held out his other hand. He could imagine how this looked. Somebody dressed in dark clothing with their face hidden, sneaking into a room full of kids. Maybe a kidnapper, or a burglar.

The farm house was only one floor, and he saw about six kids who instantly backed up to the walls. That is until he turned his flashlight farther to the right, seeing a woman who looked in her mid twenties hugging a little boy close to her chest, shaking lightly and her eyes wide with fear. Hinata quickly rushed over to her, only making her shaking worse.

"Hey!- Hey, it's okay, it's okay." He repeated, holding his hand out. She looked at him with fearful eyes, then at his hand, then back at him. She shakily put her hand on top of his, Hinata placed down his flashlight and put his other hand on top hers. If it was possible for her eyes to open wider, they did. Though her eyes were still fearful, she seemed to calm down when she realized 'who he was' not that she actually knew.

"Are you watching over these children?" Hinata said slowly and softly, hardly a whisper. The kids behind him remained silent. The woman pressed her lips into a thin line.

"Y-yes. I'm technically their sister." Hinata tilted his head at the stuttered response.

"Orphanage burned down. I was the eldest." The woman said a bit more confidently. Hinata sighed and gave her an empathetic look (tried, but his eyes were still hidden from her line of vision). He'd heard about that. A popular orphanage was burned down after being robbed, not many survivors. It was a tragic event.

"You know who I am?" Hinata said. The woman nodded again. "Good, I don't want you to tell anybody I'm here." Hinata came often enough leaving food, though he'd never once shown his face to people. He heard they had a name for him, but couldn't quite remember what it was. She nodded again, giving him a questioning look. Hinata blinked, confused about why she was confused. Then he remembered.

"Oh! Right-" He pulled his bag in front of him and pulled out three large blankets that could fit multiple people, then four loafs of bread.

"I don't know how long the food will last, but I hope it helps!" Hinata smiled brightly at the woman who's eyes widened again.

"T-thank you!" The woman gently placed the little boy she'd been holding down and bowed in respect. Hinata just smiled and nodded before waving slightly. He turned to the other kids who just stared at him, looking visibly confused. Hinata put his hand to his head and saluted playfully before slipping back out of the dim building.

Hinata zipped up his bag and shivered, a strong gust of cold wind coming onto him. He figured he'd distribute the remainder of his supplies and quickly head back, but the universe seemed to have other plans.

The snow was harsh. The 20 feet he could see ahead dying down into 15. Hinata frowned and ran (tried to run, though the snow made it difficult) towards The Common Point's local donation center. He didn't trust it at all. For all he knew, the owners could be smuggling all the supplies for themselves. Hinata preferred to do things by his own hand, though it seemed he didn't have a choice. 

Hinata burst through the door and a small bell went off.

"Good evening! How can I help you today-" One of the workers started to say, but Hinata ignored them and just placed the last four of his blankets and loafs of bread on the counter top, signed his name on the clipboard nearby, and bolted right back out the door. That's another reason Hinata didn't like the place. They made everybody who donates sign their name in case of poisoned or tampered with materials, and Hinata couldn't really make up a name.

Hinata ran back to the stables, rushing to get back to Chem. He had his gloved hand on top of his head to make sure his hood stayed up right as he struggled for a second to get his key out of his pocket. When he did, Hinata quickly unlocked the stable door, placed the key on the side, strapped his bag onto the side of Chem's back, and pulled himself up onto Chem. The snow was getting worse - and fast. This would make his trip back to the palace much longer and difficult. Hinata grabbed onto the reigns and quickly walked out of the stables and past the man he knew to be Ukai.

"I left the key on the door side." Hinata said, picking up a faster pace before giving the man a chance to reply. 

"Oh, snow snow snow. Getting in the way, hM?" Hinata started muttering to himself, cursing the snow silently for cutting his visit short. 

Gravel. Snow. Chem. Cold. Four problems. The gravel roads meant that Hinata wasn't on royal grounds. The gravel was starting to be covered by the snow. There are no street signs. He would lose sight of the path if he wasn't fast. Also snow - it was annoying. 15 feet was down to 10. Chem was a new horse known for ditching riders, Hinata had only ridden him once. Who knows how he'll react to the snow. Snow means cold. Cold means agonizing. Cold is annoying.

Because everybody else is seeking shelter (avoiding the storm because unlike some people, they know how dangerous it might be), the roads haven't been driven on yet either. So it would be a fresh, untouched snow. That really means Hinata would lose sight of the path. Hinata knew that he shouldn't go any faster than he is, which is just about a canter, but that also means the trip would be longer because he's usually able to gallop. He didn't want to risk his or Chem's safety and increase the risk of Chem falling, so it would have to do. 

Hinata just hoped that there wouldn't really be hail. He sneezed and let out an annoyed groan. Two things- One, he hated his sneeze. It wasn't one of those weird baby deer high pitched sneezes, but not really a 'normal' one either. It was right in the middle. People often called it cute, and Hinata hated that the most. Who wants a cute sneeze? Who finds sneezes cute? Two, he'd be pissed if he gets a cold. It would make clear sense if he did, but he'd really rather not.

Ten minutes later it happened. 10 feet turned into five feet, the road, or path was gone. No signs.

" _Shit._ " Hinata said under his breath as he pulled lightly on the reigns, bringing Chem back to a trot. He sighed, before getting back to the canter he was at before. He probably knew the way back, right? Hinata had been to the village and back enough times. It'd be fine. He assumed that he probably had 20-25 minutes left, his pace have being heavily slowed down.

And it was fine.

. . . for twelve minutes or so.

Everything was going well, Hinata recognized the occasional trees he could actually see, and they kept walking. Whether Chem was on grass or road, it didn't matter. It was solid ground. The snow was pretty deep at this point, and there was no bare ground in sight. It wasn't at all expected when Chem suddenly stopped walking, neighed surprisingly loud, and reared. 

_(Reared:(of a horse or other animal) raise itself upright on its hind legs.)_

Hinata was just enough unprepared that he let out a short scream of fear as the reigns slipped from his hands and he went plummeting backwards and hit the ground, the snow not doing much to cushion his fall as the wind was knocked out of him. To make the situation worse, there was a tree stump right by sticking up next to them. Almost as if it were planned, when Hinata fell his foot hit the stump awkwardly and it was forced to bend backwards. He would've yelped in pain if he had the air to.

Hinata coughed and leaned up on his elbows, gasping for air as he looked around for Chem's brown pelt. He was lucky his fur war brown, easily noticeable compared to the world covered in white. 

Sure enough, Chem put his front legs back on the ground, and quickly took off far, far away from where Hinata was. Hinata squeezed his eyes shut and winced at the stinging pain in his foot. He laid there for two minutes. There was really no point in moving. Chem was long gone. When he finally caught his breath, he coughed once more and pulled himself up. He stood up immediately, but only put pressure on his left foot. Hinata was many things, though stupid not one of them. When it came to common sense, at least.

Hinata furrowed his eyebrows together and slowly slipped his foot out of his black boot that was now scratched all along the side. His ankle and heel were light red, his ankle starting to swell up with a purplish blue starting to become more visible. He touched his finger to it lightly and hissed in pain. Hinata scolded himself for taking off the boot in the first place because now he had to put it back on, which he did, resulting in lots of stinging pains. It was hard to put back on also because of how stiff his fingers were with the cold, despite his gloves. He almost genuinely thought they were about to fall off.

"Goddamn it." Hinata mumbled as he stood up, limping forwards. He glanced behind him to see the nearly covered hoofprints of where he and Chem had come from, then where Chem had reared. There was a hole in the ground, a pothole. Hinata assumed it must've startled Chem. He frowned and started walking forwards, hoping that Chem was safe where ever he'd ran off to. Sure, Hinata wanted to go look for Chem. But even he knew that right now it was more important for him to get back to the palace. The sun was starting to set, and Hinata guessed there was at least a mile or two until he reached the palace.

 _'This was such a bad idea.'_ Was all Hinata could think. He didn't bring his phone, not that he'd get service anyways. He knew about the storm coming, yet he decided to go anyways. How could he be so stupid?

Hinata tried his best not to put pressure on his right ankle, but in the long run he knew he'd have to. He bit down on his bottom lip hard to keep from letting out whimpers of pain as he continued walking forwards.

About five minutes later when Hinata thought things couldn't get any worse, he felt something hard hit his arm. Then another, and another, and another. Hinata felt like he was on the verge of tears, both from pain and from anger. _This is all so cliché it seems scripted._ Like somebody was setting up a list of unfortunate events just for him.

First the storm, Chem running off, it getting darker, his injured ankle, and now hail that would most definitely get harder. Luckily enough, Hinata probably had about half more an hour of light before the sun set completely. Did he expect to find his way back within half an hour? No, not at all.

He walked, walked to the best of his attempts involving multiple endings of falling. Hinata was right about one thing. The hail had gotten worse. Fortunately he had his riding helmet on so his head was protected. Unfortunately, the hail had gotten violent enough that he could feel it harsh and clear on his arms, legs, torso and back. On top of that, it was getting harder to walk.

"Hello?!" Hinata called out, probably to no one. His voice was most likely drowned out by the snow anyways.

"Is anybody there?!" He shouted again. He had no hope whatsoever that somebody was out there, just waiting to save him. But it was better safe than sorry, right? Hinata stood where he was for a few seconds, his arms clutching his torso tight. 

He took another step forwards with his left foot. Good. He took another step forwards with his right foot. Not good. He ended up falling back into the snow after tripping over a hidden tree stump. He let out a sharp yelp of pain as it felt like something shot through his foot. 

Hinata laid flat on his back for a minute, his forearms guarding his face from the hail. He was sure to have bruises after this. Then he laughed. He starting laughing a bit louder, but only that he would've been able to hear it, accompanied by a few tears that ran quickly down his face, but he was fast to wipe them away. Nothing's worse than crying in freezing temperature.

' _That's it. I'm just going to die here. My body will be discovered in a week when the snow melts and everybody will scream when I'm covered with bugs._ ' Hinata cringed at his own horrifying thoughts as he pushed himself up and trying to stand, though immediately falling. 

Hinata furrowed his brows again and smiled painfully as he hung his head down, protecting himself from the hail. He was about to try and stand again when-

"Hinata!"

Hinata's head shot up and he squinted through his blurry vision, only to see a two figures coming towards him. The whole image was distorted by snow, but when they got closer he met a familiar pair of sapphire eyes on top of a black horse they called Venus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm already writing the next chapter. The beginning of Chapter 4 will be from near the start of this current chapter, but it'll be in Kageyama's point of view for the first part. So-  
> Also, the Notes I wrote for the first chapter of this story for some reason appear at the end of every chapter? Is there a way I can fix that or-  
> The Ball is NOT what the two Kingdoms have been discussing this whole time, and I added it into a tag if you want to spoil it for yourself. I don't know when I'll write it in-


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am SO sorry this chapter is so late! It is a bit longer though-

**_Earlier that day--_ **

Kageyama didn't excuse himself from the table much longer after Hinata. He didn't really like eating in front of people anyways, so he always tried to dismiss himself as soon as possible. Why Hinata excused himself so fast? Kageyama didn't know. Frankly, he could care less. 

"Thank you for the food." Kageyama said, half under his breath. He glanced over to his father who just nodded, and Kageyama quickly stood up from his seat and left. He had no clue where to go though, and ultimately decided to roam the halls. The Aonatin palace had some nice decorations, he'll be honest.

First he went down the hallway near the kitchen. It was the same as all the other hallways. Though, this one had large arc windows all along the right wall, showing the outside. Kageyama paused to admire the light snow outside. To be honest, Kageyama didn't like being outside. Sure, he liked horseback riding, sword lessons (which almost always were outside), and typical outdoor activities. He just didn't like being outside. 

He liked observing rather than talking. While everybody else talked to each other, he listened silently or watched their body movement closely. It's how he got to know people.

It was hard to do that outside. There were always so many noises from animals, wind, machines, it was almost never quiet. Kageyama found that annoying most of all. If he had to choose, Kageyama would consider himself an introvert. Maybe an extroverted introvert, but definitely not an extrovert.

Kageyama closed his eyes and held them shut for a few seconds before opening them once again. He looked to the side and noticed that each of the statues were made from marble. Along the hallway, there were statues of women. No arms on them, all with the same blank expression while staring at the ground. Some of them had an engravement at the bottom, but Kageyama hadn't bothered to read them before. That is until one specific statue caught his eye. This time it was a woman who was frowning and her head tilted down, eyes shut. He rolled his eyes and bent down to read the engravement.

" _Sometimes it's best to avoid reality if it will end full of regrets._ " Kageyama rose an eyebrow at the slightly depressing message. He sighed and stood back up, walking down the hallway. He didn't know what he'd do. Maybe he'd talk to Yachi.

Yachi was one of his servants from Sayner. Every time they visit the 'Hinata family, they're meant to bring one of their servants. Kageyama's parents always let him choose, and Kageyama always chose Yachi. Yachi and him were the same age, and she'd been working at the palace from the young age of nine. Her mother wasn't. . . the best, and they were low on money. So she sent Yachi to work at the palace so that they could have a bit more financial support, plus it would give Yachi a place to stay for free as well as food. The 'Kageyama family cared for their servants well, and unless they specifically asked not, servants were able to live at the palace's servant quarters. And of course they gave the servants food, they worked all day. It was the least they could do, even though they paid them.

Long story short, Yachi and Kageyama became close. Friends, even. Kageyama didn't have many friends at all. None, actually. There were a lot of people he talked to, sure, but they couldn't really be considered friends. He had a suspicion that people only talked to him because of his title as Prince. But with Yachi, she avoided Kageyama at all costs when she first came to work. Kageyama didn't care. Until one day she had to help Kageyama get ready for a ceremony, they had a small conversation. Turns out Yachi had been down right terrified of Kageyama, saying he 'looked like an axe murderer'. They ended up becoming close friends.

The hallway was at an intersection. One way led outside, the other led to more and more halls. Kageyama would've turned the corner immediately, but stopped walking when he heard heavy 'stomping' coming closer.

His eyes widened when he saw a small figure run by, dressed in all black and carrying something that Kageyama couldn't make out. He froze when he made eye contact with a familiar pair of hazel eyes, but the person, Hinata, quickly broke eye contact and pulled down his hood. Kageyama's gaze followed him down the hallway before Hinata quickly ran out one of the doors leading outside.

Kageyama just stood in the middle of the halls for a few seconds, thinking over everything that happened. He scrunched his eyebrows before shaking his head as if to brush it off. 

' _Why would Hinata be going outside in this weather?_ ' Was all he could wonder. He'd noticed that Hinata had been wearing riding boots, how could he not? It was common to hear Hinata running around in those shoes, so he knew that the 'stomping' was from that in specific. Kageyama sighed before heading back to the west tower. 

Technically there were four 'towers' obviously, but in Sayner and Aonatins region they only ever referred to two. There was the West tower, where any workers staying at the palace slept. It was also where the main library and kitchen were - for Aonatin, at least. 

Then there was the East tower, that's where any type of indoor practice was. For example practicing swordsmanship and combat - those were usually things that you would do outside, but now that it's the cold season the East tower would be used for those things.

Kageyama huffed and crossed his arms behind his back before continuing to the west tower. He could only assume that's where Yachi would be. Earlier she'd mentioned another servant that she found particularly pretty. It had slipped out on accident of course. Kageyama had been complaining about Hinata after the clumsy red-head had ran straight into him in the hallways, knocking him over and only giving him a look of irritation before getting up again. 

\----

**_6 months ago_ **

_'He didn't even apologize!' Kageyama said, scrunching his nose in annoyance. Yachi just gave him a smile and a look of sympathy._

_'I'm sure there was something on his mind. I've talked to the Prince a few times actually, he's really nice!' Yachi said, picking up some of the stray dishes on a nightstand and placing them on the empty platter she was holding._

_'Yeah, I hear that a lot but I've seen no proof of it. I bet it's all a disguise and he only shows his devilish self around me.' Kageyama retorted. Yachi just smiled to herself._

_'To be fair, you did kind of reject his friendship when you first met-'_

_'Yeah, two years ago.' He interrupted._

_'So you want to be his friend then?' Kageyama's gaze shot up from the floor and he stared at Yachi, an obvious look of slight disgust directed at her comment._

_''ts what I thought.' She said. Kageyama frowned._

_'I'll fire you.' Kageyama had intended it as a sarcastic comment, thinking it was obvious he wouldn't. She was one of (one of?) his only friends. Though he forgot how paranoid the small girl could get, quickly remembering when the stared at him with a terrified look. His eyes widened slightly and he held his hand in the air defensively._

_'Kidding- I'm kidding. I would never- uh-' Kageyama stopped talking halfway through is sentence and stood there, jaw still hanging as if he were about to talk. He was never the best at compliments, or anything that could be seen as such. Yachi seemed to understand though, as she let out a sigh of relief and went back to tidying the room._

_'Speaking of Hinata,' Yachi started. 'he introduced me to one of his servants the last time we came.' The blonde girl smiled at the thought, a light pink tinting her cheeks. Kageyama rose an eyebrow. He'd already started imagining a tall man, probably with a defined jawline, brown hair and sparkly green eyes. It definitely wasn't his type, but Kageyama had no clue what Yachi's type was. Probably somebody stereotypically handsome, right? His thoughts were quickly interrupted._

_'They're really pretty too!'_ pretty? _'Pink glasses, dark blue hair -- wait, maybe it was black -- she's much taller than me though. Maybe 6 inches or so. Anyways, she was really nice and-' Yachi stopped mid sentence and her face paled. Kageyama just stared at her with a blank expression._

_Slowly, Yachi turned to face Kageyama. Kageyama furrowed his eyebrows at her, thinking. She? Pretty? Wait-_

_Once again his thoughts were interrupted when he noticed that Yachi's eyes were wide with fear, and her hands trembling lightly._

_Kageyama opened his mouth to speak, but Yachi beat him to it._

_'He! I-I meant he! He's very handsome!' She threw her hands in the air. Kageyama tilted his head, oblivious to why Yachi seemed so nervous. Then it clicked._

_'Oh- Yachi you know I don't care who you like right? Wait- no let me rephrase that-' Kageyama slapped his hand against his forehead in embarrassment. 'If you like a girl,' he said, choosing his words carefully. 'then that's okay. It doesn't bother me.' Yachi slowly put her hands back down to her sides and she nodded._

_'Wait, you already know I like guys. Why did you think I'd care if you liked girls?' Kageyama questioned. Yachi just stared at him dumbfounded._

_'I didn't know that. I remember you telling me about some guy you went out with, but when I asked if you were-' She stopped mid sentence. Would it be rude to mention a Prince's sexuality? One you worked for at that?_

_'If I was gay?' He finished for her. 'I said I didn't like labels. I still don't. I like who I like.' Yachi looked like she was about to ask more, but Kageyama stopped her._

_'So what's with that girl you mentioned?' Kageyama averted his eyes, avoiding eye contact. He really hated talking about things like crushes, and romance. Yachi's bright smile came back again._

_'Right! She's so cool! And stunning, there's this one guy who's constantly hitting on her! I didn't get to say anything though... when she told me her name I just froze.' Yachi pouted. The black haired boy just shrugged._

_'You'll probably get a chance to talk when you see her next time we go. I don't doubt it'll be soon.' He scowled at the thought. His parents really had been going often, along with that, they were having more and more private meetings. More without Kageyama. He'd overheard things about finances, but he didn't hear enough to find out if there was an issue._

_'Yeah, I hope so.' Yachi said. 'Anyways, I'm expected back to my quarters by 10:00.' She added, glancing towards Kageyama as if asking permission._

_'Right.' Was all he said with a short nod, and Yachi quickly headed out of the room._

_\----_

It wasn't too far of a walk honestly. You just took a right after the hallways of Kageyama and Hinata's room and then there was a flight of stairs. The stairs split into two - maybe it was more of two flights of stairs even though they connected to the same spot at the top. The stairs were made of granite with the same patterned carpet as the previous hallways.

Kageyama's hand only brushed the railing as he headed up to the (technically third) floor of the Aonatin Palace. He immediately turned left and speed walked down the narrow halls

"Oi, Yachi?" He called out, heading towards where he assumed was a kitchen. Kageyama had only been in the west tower about three times, it wasn't like he had any purpose to be there.

He nearly gave up on finding the short blonde when he heard a familiar voice. Almost immediately, Kageyama whipped his head around only to see a dark oak door with a golden handle. Without thinking, Kageyama opened the door. Four pairs of eyes instantly fell on him, the voices falling silent. Kageyama froze at the unfamiliar faces. He desperately looked around to see if he recognized anybody, feeling his face heat up from embarrassment.

"Er- sorry I was just looking for somebody..." He trailed off awkwardly. In front of him were four people. Unfortunately he didn't get much time to see who they were, as a brunette man stood up and walked over to him. Kageyama stiffened, even though he knew damn well that he was a Prince, and these people certainly were not royalty. He had the overwhelming power, not that he wanted it.

"Kageyama...Tobio, right?" The brunette said. Kageyama glanced to the side and back at the man, feeling highly uncomfortable. Slowly coming back to earth, he nodded. The man just closed his eyes and kneeled down on one knee, one arm behind him and the other in front. The now bowing man was wearing a pure white tucked in button up shirt that was cuffed at the sleeves along with black trousers or dress pants. 

"Our apologies, your Highness. We weren't expecting you to visit or quarters." _Their quarters?_ Kageyama thought. Then he realized, looking back up at everyone else. Everybody was in a uniform, or a half uniform that is. Another brunette was shirtless, seemingly changing before Kageyama had rudely burst in. Another brunette? Kageyama looked at the other boy again, quickly seeing him to be Nishinoya.

Oh.

Kageyama had not gone to the kitchen, in fact, he'd wound up in the servants quarters.

"T-that's alright, sir." Kageyama said awkwardly. 

"Ey, Kageyama!" He quickly knew it to be Nishinoya's voice who called, but then he was quickly greeted by a heavy weight.

"Oi, get off of me!" Kageyama snapped, pushing Noya away after the servant had jumped onto him.

"Noya!" This time the voice belonged to the other brunette Kageyama had yet to know. The man yanked Noya back by his hair. Kageyama assumed that the man would've grabbed his collar, but Noya was still lacking a shirt. 

"I'm so sorry about that your Highness! Please, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Daichi Sawamura, I'm the Captain - or the head of Aonatin's servants." The brunette - Daichi, said. The name sounded familiar. Kageyama assumed that he'd just overheard Hinata or Yachi mention him before.

"It's nice to meet you, Daichi-San." It was respectful for Kageyama to say 'San' because it was obvious Daichi was older than him, even though he was next in line for the throne.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, your Highness." Kageyama struggled to contain a sigh at hearing 'your Highness'. It made him feel weird when people -especially people around his age- called him that, but he didn't have the guts to ask people to stop straight up. 

A sudden awkwardness overtook the room, the other two men who had been in the room remaining silent.

"Uh, have you by chance seen anybody by the name Yach-" Kageyama was stopped nearly immediately as a door he hadn't even seen opened. And of course, out came Yachi and another girl with long, dark blue hair that reached just below her shoulders.

"Ah! K-Kageyama-Kun- er, sir!" Yachi stuttered. Kageyama just tilted his head, confused as to why she seemed so nervous - the fact that the poor girl looked red as a strawberry in summer didn't help either. Kageyama glanced to the girl besides her, then a bit lower.

 _Ah_. He thought. The two girls elbows were linked. Kageyama assumed that's what made Yachi look so flushed. The other girl however seemed to be just fine, wearing a blank expression.

"Oh, you must be Sir Kageyama then, right?" The girl asked.

"That'd be me. May I ask your name?" He responded calmly. The girl just nodded.

"My name is Kiyoko Shimizu, I'm one of Hinata-Kun's workers in the palace." She - Kiyoko said in a plain tone, her sparkling diamond like eyes not giving away any emotions as one usually would. She unhooked her arm from Yachi's and bowed down in front of Kageyama. Kageyama shifted his gaze only to see Yachi dramatically throw her hand against her chest and bite hard on her bottom lip. He fought back a smile.

"It's nice to meet you, Kiyoko." Kageyama said. Kiyoko stood upright once again and turned to face Yachi, who visibly tensed. Kiyoko just held out her hand. Yachi stared at it, unsure of what she meant. Noya was just staring wide eyed at the entire situation.

"Is my beloved a lesbian?" Noya said as he gasped dramatically.

"Biromantic." Kiyoko said, not glancing over to look at the sulking boy. Noya just clicked his tongue and skipped over to Yachi.

"If I can't be the husband I sure as hell want to be the best man." He said before whispering into Yachi's ear. Yachi flushed red directly after Noya had finished talking, then side glanced Kiyoko --who was still holding out her hand-- suspiciously before placing her own hand in hers. Kiyoko immediately clasped their hands after they made contact, looking at Yachi to see if there were any signs Yachi didn't want to be holding hands. Though there were none, only the sight of Yachi struggling to breath.

She seemingly snapped out of it as she looked back to Kageyama.

"Oh, right. Did you need anything, Sir?" Yachi usually called Kageyama his regular name (occasionally with the 'kun' at the end) and sometimes even by his given name, Tobio. In public though, she had to address him as things such as Sir, your Majesty, your Highness, your Royal Highness. His parents thought it was disrespectful otherwise, and neither Kageyama or Yachi wanted her to get fired. At this point she might now even have a home left to go to, her mother never visited anymore. The 'Kageyama's were like her family, or at least Tobio felt like her brother.

"Ah- no, not really." The room fell into an awkward silence once again, and Kageyama desperately searched for anything to say.

"Er- Noya-San, do you know where Hinata went?" Kageyama cringed at his own words. He didn't really care, but it just slipped out after he remembered Hinata running down the halls.

"Eh? If he's gone again I'd say he probably went to the Village again." Noya said as he finally got dressed.

"The Village?" Kageyama asked.

"Yep. He doesn't know I know he goes though, but he's not the best at sneaking out. Happens a few times a month." Noya spoke casually. ' _Of course he'd know._ ' Kageyama thought. Because Noya was both a servant and Hinata's best friend, the two spent a lot of time together.

Kageyama scrunched his eyebrows together, glancing out the window in the back of the room.

"Really? In this weather?" He frowned as he spoke. Sure, at first he thought it was weird going out at all in this weather. But to the village? It was a longer journey than one might want to take. Everybody in the room quickly turned to look outside, Daichi's face paling. There was heavy snow falling, so much you could barely see straight.

"Uhh...yes?" Noya said, though it came off more as a question than a statement.

"We should probably send somebody out for him." Daichi said. "I'll go alert the King and-"

"No!" Noya interrupted. 

"I-I mean- I really don't think Hinata wants his parents knowing that he goes to the village. Last time they knew he told me that they threatened to keep him in the palace for two months." Noya shuddered at the thought of it. Servants were let out of the palace when they wanted, so many couldn't imagine being forced to stay in the castle.

Daichi frowned.

"I don't think it's smart to leave him out there alone." Daichi said.

"Yeah, he'd probably get knocked over by the wind." Noya commented, almost to himself with a snicker. A gray haired boy elbowed him.

"You do know you're shorter than him, right?" They said.

"Shut up!" Noya snapped back.

Daichi stared at the ground for a few seconds seeming deep in thought, when his eyes suddenly lit up. He shifted to look at Kageyama.

"Your Royal Highness, I'm really sorry to ask you this but-" Kageyama frowned at just the beginning of that sentence, already expecting what was coming next. "-could you please go out and look for our Prince? You're the only person here with actual horse riding skills." Daichi's voice was soft and quiet, but there was definitely fear in his tone. 

Kageyama's right eyebrow twitched. Obviously he was worried for Hinata, as much as he hated him he wasn't a jackass. But what was to say that Hinata wasn't completely fine on his own?

He thought back to Hinata running down the hall. He had been carrying something that Hinata couldn't make out, and equestrian boots would be difficult in the case he had to walk directly in snow. 

Kageyama let out a 'tch' and sighed.

"Fine." Kageyama said, quickly turning and walking out the door, not wanting to hear the obvious thanks he'd get from the others.

"Unlock the stable doors before I get back, please." He called out from behind him. He'd checked earlier, only to find out the door had already been locked. It'd be a lot easier for them to go through the main door once he got back.

Kageyama grumbled wordless things to himself as he stomped back down the stairs and to his room, changing into proper 'gear'.  
  
~~~

It didn't take long for Kageyama to get outside and out to the stables. He noticed that all of the horses had blankets on them, and he just assumed it was Hinata's doing. He frowned at the fact for some reason. As Kageyama took of the blanket on Venus and heaved himself up, he looked to the side only to see Ares was still there.

"Ares?" He whispered to himself.

"Wait, if Hinata didn't take Ares then-" Kageyama started, leaning forwards to see the other horses. He quickly stopped talking when he realized which of the horses were missing.

 _'Really? The dumbass took Chem? Chem of all horses?'_ He thought. Aonatin wasn't even home to Kageyama yet even he knew that Chem wasn't a smart choice, especially in snow as bad as this.

Kageyama let out a huff of annoyance before taking off in a careful canter, heading in direction of the village.

~~~

It wasn't even 10 minutes later when Kageyama saw a brown figure running closer and closer.

"Chem?" Kageyama said to himself. As the image got clearer, it became more obvious that it was in fact Chem. Kageyama felt like a weight had been lifted off his chest.

"Hinata!" He called, guiding Venus to go closer towards Hinata and Chem. And they did. But Chem rode right on past them. Now, this may not have been an issue. Hinata often ignored Kageyama when he was upset or in a bad mood. Nothing irregular. The issue was that there was _nobody on that horse._ Chem was riding by himself towards the palace.

_No Hinata. No Hinata?_

"Shit!" Kageyama cursed to himself, starting off again towards the direction Chem had come from.

At this point you could barely see 5 feet in front of you, vision blurred by the snow. The sun was beginning to set, and Kageyama felt something hit his arm.

 _'Just snow.'_ Kageyama told himself. Because it obviously was. It was obviously just snow. . .right?  
.  
.  
.  
Definitely not just snow. 

Hail had started to come down violently about five minutes later, and Kageyama was starting to get concerned both for Hinata and Venus. 

Kageyama pressed his lips into a thin line, near ready to give up. Hopefully Hinata found shelter in the village, and Chem just got loose.

Kageyama slowed down to a trot, and started to slowly turn around. Hinata was no where to be seen. That is, until he heard a sound that was so faint he almost thought he imagined it.

 _"Hello?!"_ The voice said.

"Hinata?" Kageyama said. The world was silent, the snow drowning out all background noises. The was no response. Kageyama scoffed.

"I must be going crazy." He mumbled, about to start going back to the palace when-

"Is anybody there?!" The same voice said. It was clearer this time, and Kageyama was sure he didn't imagine it. His eyes widened and he immediately turned around again and took off in a canter back to where he was going originally. The hail hit hard against him, but he didn't care.

"Hinata?!" Kageyama shouted, hoping that if it really were Hinata, he would be heard. No response. Kageyama squinted, his vision getting more and more limited from the snow. That's when he saw it.

Along with the now sickening white, there was a black figure against it. Kageyama remembered how Hinata had been wearing all black before. 

"Hinata!" Kageyama yelled, and this time, the figure shot straight up.

* * *

"Kageyama?" Hinata muttered in a tone so quiet that only he could hear. The two figures got closer, and sure enough, there was Kageyama and Venus. 

Kageyama immediately hopped off of Venus and ran over to Hinata, holding out a hand.

"Can you stand?" He asked. Hinata scoffed and rolled his eyes (which did not help his newly found headache).

"Of _course,_ I can stand Bakayama." Hinata said, Grabbing Kageyama's hand and pulling himself up.

"Great, can you walk?" Kageyama asked. Hinata froze, hesitating before nodding. 

"Yes." He paused before his brain seemed to fully comprehend the question. "Yes- Yes. Obviously I'll be able to walk. I'm not stupid." Hinata said, feeling slightly offended. Hinata let go of Kageyama's hand and took a step forward, amazingly with his right foot. He fell instantly.

_Liar._

"So much for walking." Kageyama grumbled. Hinata just rolled his eyes again before glancing over to Venus.

"Kageyama you idiot! Your horse is going to get hurt from the hail!" Hinata shouted.

"You're not much better, dumbass." Kageyama said as he pulled himself back onto Venus, leaving Hinata to get up himself.

"Did you come here just to taunt me? Watch me suffer, eh?" Hinata said.

"Oh, yeah. Risked both mine and my horses safety just because I hate you that much." Kageyama said before holding out his hand once again.

"Now get on the goddamn horse." He said, irritated.

"So vulgar, Yamayama." Hinata murmured, hesitantly grabbing Kageyama's hand and stepping up with his left foot and onto the horse.

"What are your worst injuries right now?" Kageyama asked as he adjusted the reigns slightly.

"I- I have no injuries." Hinata said. There was no way he would give Kageyama something to use against him. Though Kageyama just turned around practically shooting daggers with his gaze. Hinata stiffened before letting out a sigh of defeat.

"I think I sprained my ankle, possible cold, killer headache."

"How'd you get a headache?"

"Is that really your only question?"

Kageyama didn't respond.

"Fine. If you must know, Chem might've reared me off and I hit my head." Hinata said.

"What was that? I can't hear you over the wind!" Kageyama said a bit louder than usual. Hinata rose an eyebrow.

"I said that Chem reared me and I hit my head." Hinata spoke fast and averted eye contact.

"What!?" Kageyama said again.

"I said that Chem reared me! There, you happy?!" Hinata shouted, finally looking back at Kageyama only to see the black haired man with a sly grin.

"I hate you." Hinata said, looking away again as he pouted. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His head really was killing him, let alone the aching pain in his foot.

"Right, we're going." Kageyama said. Hinata's eyes snapped open.

"Wait, where should I put my hands?" Hinata asked. Kageyama shrugged and gave Hinata an annoyed look.

"I don't know? What, the air?" He said.

"Idiot, I'll fall!" Hinata shouted.

"Well I don't give a damn where you put your hands, dumbass!" If Noya were here, he'd definitely be making fun of his phrasing. Before giving Hinata a chance to reply, Kageyama started into a fast canter. Hinata yelped in surprise and quickly wrapped his arms around Kageyama's waist. 

Hinata was feeling much too light headed to feel the taller boy tense in his grasp, startled by Hinata suddenly grabbing his waist. Kageyama thought back to his previous words- _"Well I don't give a damn where you put your hands, dumbass!"_ he took it back. He most certainly did give a damn, because this is the most awkward situation he'd been in.

It didn't help when Hinata had a sudden sharp pain sting through his foot, and he squeezed Kageyama tighter for a second before loosening his grip again. Despite the the freezing temperature and the ice 'panging' at him Kageyama could still feel his cheeks heat up from embarrassment. 

\-- ** _(This is a good pause point if needed)_**

When Kageyama and Hinata got back to the stables, the hail had somehow gotten much, much worse. The ice was about the size of a gumball. Kageyama got off of Venus first, then helped Hinata down. Hinata leaned against the wall as Kageyama briefly checked Venus for any terrible injuries that needed to be treated right away. Either way they would call a vet as soon as possible. 

Hinata's body was aching all over, and his head felt like it was about to explode. Kageyama turned back over to face Hinata.

"Alright, let's go inside and we can get the nurse or something-" He stopped talking when he saw Hinata was breaking into a cold sweat, staring into the distance. Kageyama's lips curved into a frown as he gently brushed Hinata's fringe back (much to Hinata's disagreement) and placed the back of his hand against his forehead. Sure enough, the boy was burning up.

"Can you even get a fever from being outside in the cold?" He muttered to himself. Hinata muttered something as well, but it was much too muffled for Kageyama to even remotely understand.

"Oi, Red. Let's go." Hinata tore his gaze from the wall and looked at Kageyama, then nodded slowly.

Kageyama groaned.

'Right, can't walk on his right foot.' He thought. With a huff of irritation, Kageyama took Hinata's arm and wrapped it around his waist once again, placing his own arm around Hinata's. He wouldn't done the classic - putting his arm around his shoulder, but there was about a 6 inch height difference so Kageyama didn't imagine it would be all that comfortable for either of them.

Kageyama turned the doorknob of the stables, holding his breath. He silently cheered when the door in fact was not locked and quickly stepped inside the palace, the familiar feeling of warmth coming over him.

"Hello?" He called, his voice echoing through the halls. At rapid speed, the gray haired boy from earlier came rushing towards Kageyama and Hinata from the next hallway. 

"Sir Kageyama! Daichi asked me to be here when you returned to see if you needed any help and-" He stopped talking when he saw Hinata, the energetic boy he'd met earlier that day now a tired, lifeless looking boy.

"Is he alright?" The servant asked, frantic.

"He should be fine. Do you know where a doctor, or nurse is?" Kageyama asked. The gray haired boy nodded.

"You can bring him to his room and I'll send the doctor your way." The man hurried off without giving Kageyama a chance to respond. Kageyama just looked blankly forwards before glancing down towards Hinata again, who seemed to be squirming uncomfortably.

"What?" Kageyama said. He heard Hinata sigh before responding.

"You're way too close to me." Hinata said bluntly.

"Eh?!" Kageyama felt his face heat up once again. Hinata --who had been looking straight down at the ground-- turned his face around and upwards to face Kageyama, not expecting Kageyama to have been turned as well. Their faces were so close that with the slightest move their noses would touch. They were both silent as their faces flushed, though Hinata's face was already red. This time it was Kageyama who pulled back first, Hinata instantly after.

"God- That's not what I meant! I mean that you're so close and I don't want you to get sick!" Hinata said, his tone full of anger, though the anger was really to cover up his embarrassment.

Kageyama suddenly became very aware of Hinata's grasp on his waist and his on Hinata's. 

"Yeah well it's either this or stumbling all the way to your room. Now come on." Kageyama figured it would be best to ignore this newfound humiliation. Not waiting for an answer, Kageyama started to practically drag Hinata towards his room until he started to walk his own. Well, the best walk he could manage.

When they reached Hinata's room, Kageyama turned on the two fans he saw. One was connected to a switch on the wall and located on the ceiling, the other was a small, technically portable box fan. That switch was on the actual fan. Hinata had complained about over heating, then complained about how he didn't need Kageyama to turn on his fans for him. It seemed he was about to complain about something else, when the door opened.

In came a man who Kageyama didn't recognize, and judging by how Hinata reacted, he didn't either.

"Hello, boys. I'm Aonatin's new official doctor, pleased to meet you." The man said. Hinata smiled brightly and nodded, though his smile was definitely duller than usual. The man glanced down to Kageyama and Hinata's arms which were still wrapped firmly around the others waist.

"Oh, I didn't know that our Prince had a boyfriend." The man said with a hearty laugh as he looked at Hinata. Hinata glanced at Kageyama. Kageyama glanced at Hinata. Then they realized what he meant.

"Oh, what? Oh no. God no I would never date him." Hinata said.

"Rather gouge my eyes out than date him." Kageyama said under his breath, but apparently not quiet enough for it to go unheard. Hinata furrowed his brows and turned to face Kageyama.

"Yeah? Well- Well I would sell you to those people who collect organs!" Hinata said.

"What kind of insult is that?!-" Kageyama was about to counter with another comment, when the doctor interrupted.

"Right right, I'm sorry, my bad. You aren't dating. I just assumed with. . ." He gestured to their arms.

"Huh? Oh! Yeah actually that's why we needed you. We got caught in the snow storm and I think I sprained my ankle or something." Hinata said with a sheepish smile.

"Oh really?" The doctor turned to face Kageyama. "What about you, kid? Any bad injuries?"

"Oh me? No, just a few bruises from the hail." Kageyama replied, avoiding eye contact. 

"Alright then, would mind leaving the room for a second while I check your friend for any other injuries?" Kageyama nodded at this and helped Hinata over to his bed, slipping his arm away. He quickly ducked out of the room, feeling like it would be much too awkward to actually say goodbye. In the meantime, he paced up and down the halls as he waited to find out what was wrong with Hinata. Not that he cared.

\---

15 minutes or so passed before Hinata's door opened again and the doctor stepped out, his eyes immediately falling on Kageyama.

"Ah, kiddo! Did you want to hear about your friend?" The doctor said. Kageyama nodded, though hesitant.

"He did in fact sprain his ankle, he told me that it was forced to bend backwards when he fell." Kageyama cringed at the thought of it. "However, it's just a minor sprain. If we treat it right it'll heal in 1-2 weeks, or at least he'll be able to walk on it." He said.

"Is that it?" Kageyama hadn't the slightest clue why he was so concerned.

"Well he has a fever which came from his cold, and a few bad bruises on his forearms and torso. I gave him medicine for his fever and wrapped the few parts of his torso that had started to bleed. Apparently some of the hail ripped through his clothes. Other than that, that's pretty much it. I'll be back tomorrow to go into further care of his ankle." The doctor gave Kageyama a gentle smile before walking off, not giving him a chance to even say thank you.

Kageyama looked towards the door that led into Hinata's room. After a lot of thinking, he decided to go in.

He slowly creaked the door open, and sure enough, there was Hinata, lying in his bed. Kageyama stepped forward.

"Kageyama?" Hinata said, opening his eyes slightly. Kageyama sat on the side of Hinata's bed.

"The doctor told me that you look like shit." Kageyama said. Hinata sighed.

"You swear so much, Kageyama-Kun." Hinata frowned as he spoke, and Kageyama couldn't tell if Hinata's tone was annoyed, mad or not. Come to think of it, Hinata had not been this quiet in a long time. Kageyama found himself drifting off into thought, looking away from Hinata.

Kageyama liked observing rather than talking. While everybody else talked to each other, he listened silently or watched their body movement closely. It's how he got to know people.

Obviously when he first met Hinata he was forced to talk, there was no time to figure out if Hinata was worth being friends with. Kageyama didn't know how to talk to people like Hinata. People who could act like you're already friends with someone you just met. So he did what he did best. He cut him off, told him straight forward that he didn't want to be friends. He couldn't be friends with somebody who had as much energy as him. Hinata tried for a week or two after that, but after a while he seemed to finally give up.

That's when Kageyama was able to 'observe' Hinata. 

When Hinata was talking to his best friend that Kageyama had known to be Nishinoya, his smile was crooked when he laughed at jokes. More upraised on the right side. When he smiled at a story because he thought it was sweet, it was always a closed smile. No teeth.

Hinata taps his foot when he's been standing still for too long, the longer he's been still the faster he taps. Hinata rests his thumb over his pointer finger and presses down hard when he's uncomfortable, or he bites down on his bottom lip. He also bites down on his bottom lip when he's scared, or nervous.

When Hinata's tired he stares at a wall without blinking for up to three minutes at a time. Hinata doesn't like dark humor that involves poor or orphan jokes. His smile doesn't spread to his eyes when those jokes are told because he doesn't find them funny, but he laughs anyways to be nice. Hinata doesn't frown directed towards other people. He only frowns to Kageyama. Hinata has never genuinely smiled at Kageyama. Kageyama wants Hinata to smile at him like he does others.

Wait, no. No. Scratch that. That's not true.

Sure, Kageyama doesn't totally hate Hinata. When he see's Hinata, he feels like a half missing a half. Like some part of him longs to be close to and with Hinata. When he see's Hinata, he felt more comfortable with who he is and how he is.

But Kageyama doesn't like Hinata. At all. He despises him with all his heart.

…

At least a bit. Because along with that slight feeling of home he get's with Hinata, he also feels a large prick of hate. Something about Hinata existing made him happier, yet much more miserable at the same time.

"Kageyama?" Hinata's voice snapped Kageyama out of his thoughts.

"Sorry." He said, averting his eyes from the sick boy and immediately standing up from the bed. He started walking to the door when he felt a hand grab his wrist. Kageyama turned around to see Hinata slip his grip down from Kageyama's wrist and into his hand. Hand?

Oh. Hinata was holding his hand.

"Hm?" Kageyama hummed, raising an eyebrow. Hinata was probably out of it from his fever, his fever medicine, and his painkillers. It was honestly amusing, and Kageyama was going to hold it over his head forever.

"Thank you." Hinata said in a near whisper, holding eye contact. Kageyama just looked at him with an unreadable expression, then gave one short nod.

"Yeah." Kageyama didn't know if he was supposed to pull his hand away or not. It was quite awkward, really. But to his luck, Hinata let go of his hand and tucked it back under the bed sheets, eyes already fluttering shut.

Kageyama furrowed his eyebrows and looked at the now sleeping boy one last time before leaving the room. The second he was out, he facepalmed and dragged his hand down his face.

' _Fucking Hinata_ ' was all he thought, as he was obviously blaming Hinata for all of his confusing emotions. He grimaced and walked straight across the hall and into his room. He slipped his shirt off over his head and changed into a pair of dark navy pajama pants. Royalty or not, he's still a teenage boy.

Throwing himself onto his bed and under the covers, Kageyama buried the lower half of his face in his blanket. Eventually he'd came to the conclusion that he did in fact hate Hinata, but hypothetically, in an alternate reality, he wouldn't be totally against being his friend. One thing he knew for sure was that he didn't like Hinata for the time being.

He also came to the conclusion the only reason that he was having the conflicting feelings from earlier was because if he was honest, he didn't have a very...emotional family, per se. Not much physical contact, no talking about feelings or emotions, leaving Kageyama very touch starved and against any physical contact as well as being distant from his emotions. He just got confused because of how open Hinata is with his emotions, and how much the smaller Prince enjoyed things like hugs and hand holding (Kageyama had only seen him holding hands with the Queen and occasionally Nishinoya when they were screaming in glee).

Kageyama took a deep breathe as if to relieve himself from his thoughts, quickly drifting to sleep after his surprisingly eventful day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might have to change my schedule to only posting once a week (maybe two) because school's been busy + a family member of mine has been diagnosed with covid, so it's kind of difficult to find writing time. I hope you guys enjoy the story so far! Again, I'm really sorry for how late it is


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH MY GOD I'M SO SORRY THIS IS SO LATE I usually write on Wattpad because I find ao3 kind of confusing, then I just copy and paste it onto here. My wattpad hasn't been working at all so I struggled to write. I'm also sorry this is shorter than usual!
> 
> Please read the notes at the end afterwards
> 
> Also, Did I accidentally post chapter four twice last time? Sorry if I did!

Hinata smiled to himself as he skipped down the hallway, singing some random song he made up. Well, more as he tried to skip the best one could with crutches. He had slept in late so it was about 4:00 in the evening now. He'd woke up to a note on his nightstand reading:

_ Shouyou, _

_ Your father and I are in the village. We got a call that a royal horse was spotted there and is being kept in the stables momentarily.  _

_ We are truly glee that thee is not hurt, but please remember to use your crutches. You will find them leaning at the end of your bed. _

_ King and Queen Kageyama are here with us too. Tobio-Chan seems to have slept in as well and we did not want to wake the either of you. In the dining hall you will see that we've already prepared a lunch for the two of you. _

_ Please do not overwork yourself today, keep watch of thou fever. _

_ Sincerely, Yayoi Hinata _

Hinata loved his mothers handwriting. It was a beautiful cursive, well fit for a queen. Hinata on the other hand was working on his own handwriting. He didn’t know if it could really be considered a lunch now though.

He hadn't the slightest clue what had happened before he went to sleep the previous night. He remembered only his Doctor giving him some medicine saying it would help calm down his fever as well as painkillers. He briefly remembers something about effects of drowsiness and headaches, so that explains the lack of memory afterwards. All Hinata knows for certain is that Kageyama came back in at some point but then left, then Hinata fell asleep. And that was that.

Crutches were hard to use was the conclusion Hinata had come to. They were like giant sticks that you poked the ground with. Sounds easy enough, right? Wrong. Hinata had probably gained a few more bruises from the amount of times he fell.

When Hinata reached the dining hall, he creaked open the door and peaked in only to see Kageyama just barely sitting down at the table, tilting his head in confusion on whatever was on the plate in front of him. 

Hinata frowned and took a deep breath before stepping in. With any luck, Kageyama would ignore the whole event of yesterday.

Hinata had already hit himself over it. His main problem with it was the multiple times of awkward placing of arms and waists and being confused as lovers. Was Hinata attractive? Oh, for sure. Hinata had very high pride in his looks though he would never dare to praise himself out loud. Only in his mind. Was Kageyama attractive? Yes, some would maybe consider him to be so. Definitely not Hinata though, of course not. . . That wasn't the point either way. 

The point was that the two would definitely be a very attractive couple or pairing together. That did not mean romantic feelings were there. Didn't matter anyways, Prince Kageyama was scarily straight. With his appearance, he was either the straightest person alive or the gayest person alive in Hinata's opinion. Hinata had already claimed the role for the gayest. You know what that means for Kageyama?

Long story short, physical contact with attractive men as a gay man was an easy way to make Hinata flustered. Once again, that doesn't mean that Hinata found Kageyama attractive. Even realer, that did not mean romantic feelings. There was a difference.

Kageyama only looked at Hinata for a second before looking back down at the food as Hinata sat across from him at the table, propping his crutches against the side. He supposed Natsu and Miwa had already eaten earlier that afternoon.

Miwa had told Hinata he was welcome to call her Miwa, her given name, and it would make sense for Hinata to call Kageyama Tobio instead of Kageyama given how close their families were. But Hinata and Kageyama weren't close as individuals, so it just felt like a lie to Hinata. The same applied for Natsu and Kageyama.

Hinata stared at the food as well. He didn't recognize any of the ingredients.

"What is it?" He asked, thinking aloud. Not that he expected Kageyama to know.

"'dunno. Apparently it's a food from- what, some Kingdom in America? That's what Yachi told me at least." Kageyama said, reluctantly picking up his fork and aggressively stabbing the food.

"Mad?" Hinata questioned, his gaze remaining on the odd food.

"Irritated." Kageyama shrugged as he spoke. Hinata made a humming sound as if urging Kageyama to continue.

"Can't find Yachi. She dropped the plates by earlier but didn't tell me where she was going." The boy grumbled as he spoke. Hinata tried to contain a laugh and Kageyama's gaze shot up to look at him. "What?!" He shouted, clearly annoyed that the smaller boy was laughing at him.

"Has it ever occurred to you that she, oh, I don't know, has work to do, Yamayama?" Kageyama's cheeks flushed red in embarrassment. He'd totally forgotten that Yachi was still a servant.

"Don't call me that." He said with a frown.

"It's only fair. You called me Red for what, four months after me complaining non stop? You still do, actually." Hinata grinned to himself as he looked up to meet Kageyama's eyes.

Kageyama just clicked his tongue and went back to his dish. Hinata did the same. The two fell into an awkward silence as they ate.

"So," Kageyama began, a few minutes later. "You were kind of out of it last night, hm?" Hinata froze before quickly going back to poking at his food.

"I guess. What about it?" He said, trying his best not to immediately panic. Kageyama spoke slowly.

"Well, I was sitting on the side of your bed-"

"Wow. That might be the most interesting thing I've heard all day" Hinata purposefully interrupted. Kageyama ignored his remark as Hinata finally tried his meal

"I was sitting on the side of your bed," He repeated, seemingly starting over. "and when I stood up to leave, do you want to know what you did?" Kageyama asked. Neither one of the two looked up from their plates.

_ No, I don't. _ Hinata thought.

"What?" He cursed himself internally for responding. He raised his glass of water to his mouth, taking a sip. The food was coated heavy in pepper and salt.

"You grabbed- no, you held my hand and thanked me." Kageyama was very clearly trying to hold in his mocking smile, biting down hard on his bottom lip.

Hinata choked on his water, having a short coughing fit. He did not remember that at all.

"I did not!" Hinata protested, finally turning to look at Kageyama who was now giving him a sly grin.

"Did." He said simply.

"Did not!"

"Did."

"Not!"

"Did!"

"Liar!" Hinata shouted this a bit louder than before, the volume of both their voices gradually rising.

"Idiot!"

"Moron!"

"Dumbass!"

"Stupid!-" 

Kageyama was about to shout another insult back when they heard the heavy creaking of the door open and in walked Asahi, who's eyes were full of concern. The two princes turned to look at him, Hinata instantly smiling.

"Asahi! Right?" He asked. The older looking man smiled and nodded before walking over. He put his hands behind his back before bowing.

"My Prince, Prince Kageyama." Asahi said in a respectful tone before standing back up.

Kageyama just blinked at him, recognizing him as the same man he'd seen the day before.

"What's up?" Hinata failed to realize that just because somebody is your staff, you should still talk as a regular Prince would. In the company of other adults, Hinata was always respectful and chose his words appropriately for the setting.

"Your father asked me to escort you back to your room the moment you're done eating. He said that you should rest as much as possible. I'm sorry if I'm interrupting." He said in an embarrassed tone. Hinata looked from Asahi to Kageyama, then back to Asahi.

"No, not at all! I'm actually not too hungry anyways, guess the fever's ruining my appetite, huh?" He laughed, mainly to himself. "Can you tell the cook thank you for me later?" Asahi nodded. 

"Alright! Could I maybe go to the library first though, Asahi?" Hinata asked, his face practically lighting up. Asahi tilted his head.

"Well..." He started.

"Please!" Hinata begged. He was aware of how childish he sounded, but he needed new books. He often found himself trapped inside of his room, reading fantasy books or stories on all the different myths and legends were the only things keeping him sane, really.

Asahi sighed. "That should be fine, Sir Hinata." Hinata grinned before standing up and picking up his crutches once again, pushing in his chair. He turned to look at Kageyama, the sparkle from earlier leaving his eyes.

"Kageyama." He said, bowing slightly. It wasn't exactly a goodbye, but it was something that was respectful in the slightest. Kageyama returned the action before Asahi left the room, Hinata following shortly behind him.

Asahi was quiet as the two walked to the library and Hinata didn't exactly have anything to say. When the two reached the bronze door that led to the library, Asahi made no effort to follow him inside. He simply gave Hinata a nod and stood next to the door as the red-head walked right in.

It was surprising how many books there were. No wall except from the entrance was left uncovered, shelves and shelves of books along them. Hinata only read the fiction stories, he wasn’t too keen on learning much when he didn’t have to. 

There were two “floors” to the library, if it can even be considered multiple floors. It was more like two sections, stairs leading up to the higher books but the floor platform didn’t stretch across the entire library. Lucky for Hinata, the books he was looking for were on the first level of the room. He made his way to the back corner and scanned over the book titles, tilting his head to the right so he could read them better. 

His eyes paused on a book that was a shade of Royal blue, the symbol of a knife next to the author's initials, EB.

“Evanescent…” Hinata murmured the title to himself before grabbing the spine of the book and pulling it out from the shelf. On the cover there was a boy with dark curly hair who was looking up, his fingers intertwined by some other being that was floating in the air, seemingly floating or fading _ away. A ghost story then?  _ The fading person, or thing was shorter than the boy with dark hair, that was still obvious even though he was fading.

He smiled to himself before tightening his grip on the book. There was one more he had his eye on the last time he’d visited the library room, something called “Frenemies”. Supposedly it was about a boy who was kidnapped from his village and trained to be a spy, only to investigate the Kingdom he’d been stolen from without any previous knowledge he was kidnapped twelve years later. Then of course he fell in love with another spy from that Kingdom. Let’s just say that he was fond of romances.

As soon as Hinata had grabbed the two books he left the room and gave a thumbs up towards Asahi who was still standing by the door.

“Anything interesting?” He asked. Hinata grinned and nodded. He was about to start walking towards his room when-

“Ah, do you want me to hold those for you?” Asahi asked. Hinata just tilted his head in confusion before realizing that he couldn’t really walk with crutches while holding the books. He nodded apologetically before handing Asahi his books, who just smiled.

When they reached the room, the two gave short goodbyes before Hinata quickly (as quick as he could) walked over to his bed, set down his crutches and plopped onto his mattress. Adjusting his position, he leaned against the bed frame and opened the red book, Frenemies.

**********

Two or three hours later, Hinata had shifted positions. He was now hanging off the end of his bed, legs crossed. He’d switched from Frenemies to Evanescent, so he was only on chapter nine of the ghost story, but in his defense the chapters were long. He was about to continue reading unbothered when he heard the door creak open.

Hinata dropped one arm down as he closed the book, keeping hold of his page with his finger between the pages. His arms had been getting tired anyways. He looked up only to see Kageyama walk right in. Hinata scrunched up his nose in annoyance before noticing that Kageyama was carrying Natsu in his arms, setting her down. 

Natsu ran straight up to Hinata with a bright smile. Hinata gave her a smile back and flipped back upright onto his bed with a huff, turning around.

“Hey, Natsu.” He said before glancing up to Kageyama who was now leaning against the doorframe.

“Any reason you guys are here..?” Hinata furrowed his brows.

“Tobio-San said that you were reading again!” Natsu said with a grin.

“Oh?” Hinata looked to Kageyama again who just shrugged. “Want me to read it to you? I don’t know if you’ll understand what’s happening or not.” Natsu had always liked listening to Hinata read, even if she didn’t know what half of the words were. She nodded excitedly before turning back to face Kageyama as well.

“Tobio! Can you braid my hair while he reads? Please!” 

Natsu dragged out the ‘please’ as she spoke. Kageyama just frowned. Obviously Hinata also knew how to braid hair, but he couldn’t exactly read and style hair at the same time. Kageyama was also good at hair styling because his sister was a hairdresser back in their Kingdom. Hinata had heard the argument between them where Miwa had forced Kageyama to “learn the art of hair”.

Kageyama opened his mouth to presumably deny before making eye contact with Hinata who made the same begging puppy eyes as Natsu. Not that he really wanted Kageyama to be there the whole time, but it meant Natsu wouldn’t be bugging him about it for the rest of the day. Multitasking?

The -surprisingly tired looking- boy sighed. “Where’s the comb and ties?” He asked Hinata. Hinata grinned and pointed over to his nightstand. Kageyama walked over and pulled out one of the drawers, picking up a black comb and brush along with two turquoise hair ties with beads and a spray bottle to dampen her hair. It was a recurring thing for Natsu to beg Hinata to put her hair up, even though she was technically old enough to do it herself. 

Hinata adjusted his position and laid against the bed frame. Kageyama walked back to Hinata’s bed as well and sat next to him, Natsu came as well and practically jumped into Kageyama’s lap. 

“The one I’m reading now is a ghost story, you might like it.” Hinata said. Natsu’s eyes brightened.

“Is it another romance?” With how much Hinata read his own books to Natsu, the girl seemed to have picked up the same taste as Hinata. He smiled softly and nodded. Kageyama scoffed, but Hinata paid it no attention. 

“So far it’s about this narcissistic boy named Janus who was convinced by his friends to go camping with him. They were sharing ghost stories and he was suckered into performing a ritual that should summon the Drowned boy. His Uncle went insane and drowned him in the lake near the campsite.”

Hinata grinning and wiggled his fingers as he explained what had happened. Natsu giggled. Hinata cleared his throat before starting.

“Janus scoffed and pulled back from the dark lake. ‘Of course, how could I be so stupid?’ He mumbled to himself. -He kind of reminds me of you so far, Kageyama. Bitter.” Hinata paused and side-eyed Kageyama who was combing through Natsu’s curly hair.

“Haha. So funny.” Kageyama said sarcastically, refusing to make eye contact with the boy. Hinata giggled to himself before continuing.

“The dark haired boy stood back up and turned around, ready to head back to the campsite until he was interrupted by a harsh wind, violent enough to make him trip over his own feet. Then a whisper came. ‘Follow me.’ Janus’s eyes widened and he bolted to stand upright again, his heart pounding against his chest.”

Not even ten minutes later, when Hinata looked up from the book he saw Natsu sprawled across Kageyama’s lap asleep, Kageyama leaning the opposite way from Hinata asleep as well. Hinata had often been told that his voice sounded somewhat therapeutic when he read.

Hinata didn’t notice his cheeks heat up. He’d seen Natsu sleep countless times, but Kageyama? He’d never seen the boy sleep. His usual scowl that seemed to be engraved on his face was gone, and he seemed kind of...peaceful, for once. 

His chest rose and fell at a steady pace, his dark eyelashes complimenting his paler skin.

Hinata cursed to himself. He hated pretty sleepers, they’ve nothing to complain about.

Hinata grabbed the bookmark next to him and placed it in the book, setting it to the side. 

“Kageyama?” He whispered. He didn’t really want to wake up Natsu considering that sleep was much more important for her still growing body. It was surprising that Kageyama was asleep considering how late he woke up, but then again, Hinata felt drowsy himself. He assumed it was because of the late night before even though the missed hours of sleep should’ve been made up. Then again, the newly found headache he had from reading so long might’ve fed into his weariness.

“Oi, Yama!” He whispered a bit louder, leaning to the left and pressing his shoulder closer to Kageyama’s to poke his cheek in an attempt to wake the younger boy up. 

That however did not work, and instead of waking up Kageyama turned his head slightly to the side before turning the opposite way, his head falling to lean on top of Hinata’s.

Hinata froze and he felt his body tense up as he stared blankly at the bed.

His mouth opened and closed like a fish as he tried to think of what to say, if he should say anything at all. After a solid minute passed, Hinata determined that his mind was no longer functioning as Kageyama -who definitely had no clue what he was doing, as he was still asleep- nuzzled gently against Hinata’s hair.

Hinata squeezed his eyes shut, furrowed his eyebrows and bit down on his bottom lip, holding in a sigh of annoyance and awkwardness.

Slowly, Hinata relaxed into the sudden closeness. It was comfortable and comforting really, the only awkward part was that it was with the person he (hated?). He was quite tired despite getting, what, nine hours of sleep the night before?

He ended up falling asleep with bubbling thoughts about Evanescent and Janus and what would happen to Rune, the short ghost boy who had been summoned.

**********

“Should we wake them up?” A woman's voice whispered.

“We could just leave them there and take Natsu back to her room, she’s the least likely to wake up.” Another woman's voice.

“Yes, but they’re sure to freak out if they wake up and see each other.” 

Kageyama scrunched his nose drowsily, his mind slowly starting up again. He tried to focus on the two voices as they spoke, he felt surprisingly comfortable where he was and didn’t feel like opening his eyes. 

He felt an uneven weight on his lap, something soft tickling his nose and warm breath against his neck.

What?

Kageyama furrowed his brows and turned his head slightly, his face brushing against the same soft thing. He struggled to think back to what had happened before he’d fallen asleep. He’d ran into Natsu in the hallway who begged him to tell her where Hinata was, then begged him to take her there, then begged her to do her hair, then he they sat on the bed so he could put her hair up while Hinata read, then-

Oh. 

Oh?

Oh.

Kageyama blinked his eyes open only to be greeted with orange hair. He heard shushing sounds as he turned his head to the side to further address the situation. Natsu was lying across his lap, he’d been leaning against Hinata who was now clinging onto his arm, his face fitting perfectly in the crook of Kageyama’s neck.

Realization seemed to finally hit because Kageyama’s eyes widened and he snapped his head back to the front of the room, only to see his and Hinata’s mother standing awkwardly at the room entrance. 

He opened his mouth to say something, but instantly closed it and pressed his lips into a thin line. His cheeks felt as if they were on fire, both for technically ‘cuddling’ with Hinata and for their mothers seeing it. And the fact that that seemed to be overly happy about it.

Kageyama felt Hinata stir next to him, but didn’t dare look over at the smaller boy. He just looked awkwardly from his mother to Hinata’s.

Then there was a squeak of surprise, and then a thud. This time Kageyama turned to look, only to see Hinata had fallen (jumped?) off the bed. He would’ve looked over, but was still trapped by the little girl on his lap.

“Gah-!” Hinata yelped from the floor, who instantly shot back up again and pulled his foot closer to him, supposedly having hit it on the way down.

“Hey! Mom! Kageyama-San!” Hinata said breathlessly, still shocked from the multiple events that passed much too fast for his understanding.

“Ah, kids! Don’t let us interrupt you. We had just come in to tell Shouyou that we’d returned. We didn’t think that you two were-” Queen Kageyama had begun. Kageyama would’ve interrupted them himself, but Hinata beat him to it.

“No! I- I mean no, we weren’t- I was just reading to Natsu while Kageyama did her hair and we must’ve just- fallen asleep…” Hinata faded out at the end, smiling awkwardly. Kageyama nodded quickly.

“Oh...well then, in that case you boys should get ready for dinner if you’re not too tired. Your fathers actually went out and caught something for us earlier.” Hinata’s mom said. Hinata and Kageyama nodded simultaneously. Queen Hinata walked up and picked Natsu up from Kageyama’s lap. She was surprisingly still sleeping. 

“Er- what time is it?” Kageyama asked, standing up.

“Not too late, it’s 9:00.” His mother responded with a smile. Kageyama mumbled a ‘right’ mainly to himself as the two women walked out of the room. Hinata stood up as well and grabbed the crutches that had been leaning against the bedside.

The two boys made eye contact for a second, as agonizing as it was. Hinata glanced to the side before making eye contact again, and gestured at the door for Kageyama to go first. Kageyama nodded and walked out of the room rather quickly and down the hall.

The two talked even less than usual at dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The books Hinata got were writing prompts I have for other Kagehina stories, Evanescent is one I already have a lot of the plot out (it is the same one introduced in this chapter, Janus would've been Kageyama) So you can look forward to that Lmao. I'm hoping to make it sad.
> 
> I'm thinking of having the next chapter involve Kageyama leaving, then there'll be a bit of a time skip that'll be like a week at max. I'll have them go shopping for their outfits for the ball (separately) ending in them arriving AT the ball, then the chapter after that being the actual event.
> 
> When should I introduce one of the two feeling romantic attraction towards the other? Should I do it at the ball, or wait until farther in? Who do you guys want to feel romantic attraction first, if not both?
> 
> And for the record, in response to the beginning, Kageyama most certainly is NOT straight and felt just as much gay panic as Hinata did. Even though I said he was unlabeled I'm going to call it gay panic because I don't know what else to call it-


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Outfit shopping and arrival(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've no reason for why this is so late besides the fact I forgot about it + I've been dealing with personal thoughts and issues- But I did start writing the next chapter so expect that out in 6-7 days. The fact that it's the actual ball makes me think that the chapter will be decently long so you can look forward to that- maybe- And before you guys yell at me in the beginning, HINATA DOESN'T WEAR A DRESS TO THE BALL I SWEAR
> 
> There are two time skips in the chapter, one which is in the very beginning then one at the end where they arrive at the ball.  
> Read the notes at the end please-

Kageyama went home the next morning. It was a simple goodbye really, the two Queens gave each other short hugs while the Kings shook hands. Hinata and Kageyama just bowed to each other, then to the others parents.

12 days passed by surprisingly fast and Hinata almost thought he'd slept through it. Currently he found himself being rushed out of a carriage and into a -fairly nice- building, cursive letters on the front. Hinata had never been good at reading cursive, the fact that it was written in English didn't help either.

"I'm going I'm going, stop pushing me!" He called back with a playful smile as he looked at Nishinoya. His parents had taken him to look at outfits in preparation for the ball. Hinata had near begged for Noya to come, not as a servant, but as a friend. He made sure to specify that. They seemed against it at first, but lots of royalty were friends with people who weren't in the same social class as them. In the end he managed to get them to agree. 

The King and Queen hadn't come with the two boys as they were still working out the plans and decorations for the ball. Daichi had led the carriage, being the head of staff. The dark haired boy stepped out as well and followed the two inside in silence.

Hinata stared awe struck the moment he stepped inside the building. It wasn't too big, but the inside was full of shoes and dresses and suits, every thing bursting in color. There weren't many other people besides the three of them.

"Alright, I'll be waiting here near the exit while you look around." Daichi said as he offered a smile before settling next to the entrance door. Both Hinata and Noya gave him a heads up before Noya grabbed Hinata's hand and pulled him to look towards some of the skirts. 

"Imagine Kiyoko-san in this! She'd look more like a goddess than she already does!" Noya said, practically drooling at the mouth as he stared at a dark blue halter dress with golden lace at the sleeves. Hinata just smiled and nodded, letting out a giggle at how hard Noya was pining over the girl.

Hinata shifted his gaze over to a dress next to it.

"This one's pretty too. I 'unno who'd wear it though." Hinata tilted his head at the light grey dress he'd rested his gaze on. It was a decently long dress that had a shoulder gap in the sleeves before continuing down about to where one's forearm would be.

Noya just looked at Hinata quietly and blinked before a grin overtook his face. He tapped Hinata's shoulder and the boy turned to look at him.

"What?"

Noya looked at the dress, back to Hinata, then to the dress and then back to Hinata. Hinata just stared back at him in confusion before his eyes widened in an understanding. A grin appeared on his face as well.

**********

Kageyama's breath hitched as Yachi pulled hard on the laces.

"This- This can't be something people do on their own free will-" He managed to say even though he had been trying to hold his breath as if it would help.

"You'd be surprised. This is the last one though, I swear!" Yachi let out a nervous yet amused laugh and pulled it tighter. 

"Yachi- you'll- you're going to kill me-" Kageyama's voice gave no tones of sarcasm. Yachi just hummed in response and finished the bottom lace before clapping her hands together and stepping back, staring at Kageyama's reflection in the mirror.

"Done! Does it look okay?" She asked, looking Kageyama in the eye through the mirror as if asking for reassurance.

Kageyama let out a deep breath as he remembers how to breathe.

"Yeah, it looks good. I just don't know what the point of it is, it didn't really change my figure that much." He frowned at his reflection before turning to look at Yachi.

His parents had sent him to find an outfit to wear to the ball, but even they knew he wasn't too good when it came to fashion so they told Yachi to come as well and help. She was the only one Kageyama would let help either way.

"Usually when girls wear corsets it kind of gives them an hourglass figure, y'know?" Yachi squinted and held her hands in front of her, curving them inwards then outwards as if to show the figure.

Kageyama nodded. 

"Corset vests are more for the appearance, but they can also give your clothes more of a flat look. It does definitely indent your waist though, maybe not so much on you because your figure kind of looks like that naturally." 

"I guess."

Kageyama crossed his arms and frowned before turning back to look at himself in the mirror. They males were given a dress code, or something similar. They were meant to wear Black or white, grey acceptable as an undertone. Of course things like golden accessories or anything to match was fine, regardless the color. It was only the main outfit that had been dress coded. He'd picked out a white long sleeved shirt with a plain white tie. "I'll just wear a black jacket over it and be done" He'd tried to say, but Yachi argued with it almost immediately and insisted he wore a grey corset vest.

Having no clue what that was, he reluctantly agreed. 

His reflection showed him standing in all his glory with simple black dress shoes, black trousers and black jacket. Under that he wore a grey corset that had black lines running along the collar and where his arms went through plus down the sides and down his back. That was overtop his original plan of the white top, but the tie had turned from white into an even lighter grey.

There was some sort of gold accessory on the shoulders of the jacket but Kageyama didn't know the name of it.

"So, does every thing fit okay? Or do we need to get something tailored?" Yachi asked.

"No, it fits fine." Kageyama continued to stare himself in the eye.

"...You like it then? Should we keep looking?" 

"I like it. I just can hardly _breathe._ " He scowled towards nothing and Yachi just smiled.

"Great! I'm sure Hinata-kun will like it too." Yachi turned around and unlocked the dressing room door.

"Yeah, maybe." Kageyama agreed as he turned to follow Yachi out until his eyes widened and her statement seemed to go through a full understanding in his mind. "Wait- what? Why would I care what Hinata thought?" 

Yachi turned her head and gave him a questioning look. "What do you mean? Didn't you want to get closer to him or something?" 

Kageyama's face shot red. "What?! No! When on earth did I say that?"

Yachi furrowed her brows.

"Oh." She said simply. "I thought you had. My bad then! Anyways, let's go show the Queen" Yachi flashed a bright smile and her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. Kageyama just clicked his tongue and walked out behind her and towards his mother. She'd been talking to the shop keeper who was avoiding eye contact nervously.

"Kageyama-san!" Yachi said. The Queen immediately turned around and a smile quickly came onto her face as she walked towards Kageyama. 

"Tobio! You look so handsome!" She took his face in her hands and turned his head to the side as if to admire him better. He let out a huff of annoyance.

"Hitoka, did you pick this for him?" She shifted her attention over to Yachi.

"N-no Ma'am! I just helped with the corset and tie." Yachi stuttered.

The Queen removed her hands from Kageyama's cheeks and took Yachi's hands between her own. Their height difference wasn't nearly as great as Kageyama's and Yachi's which was a solid foot, the Queen being shorter than her son. 

"Thank you for your help, I'm sure he wouldn't have gotten anywhere without you." She said. Kageyama tried not to roll his eyes. "He's never been that good at fashion." The Queen added in a whisper

Yachi's smile widened. She practically shined with praise. His mother turned back to face him.

"You can go ahead and change back into your regular clothes if you want, Tobio." He just nodded before heading back to the dressing rooms.

**********

"No way! No way I'm actually wearing this to the ball." Hinata protested, crossing his arms and forcing out a huff. His smile betrayed his false annoyance.

"But Shou, you'd look so pretty!" Noya teased. Hinata just snickered and hung the dress back up on the rack. Noya had convinced him into trying it on, and in all honesty Hinata didn't think he looked bad. Though he still wouldn't dare to wear a dress to the ball, his kingdom was really specific on gender norms.

In the end, Hinata was kind of stuck on what he would wear. It couldn't be like his everyday wear which was typically a coffee stained colored regency blouse with the cuffed sleeves and ruffled fabric down the front, but it couldn't be something as simple as a tux. There was formal clothing and clothing for royalty, and Hinata wasn't too sure what the difference was. 

"What about this?" Noya pointed towards something Hinata didn't know what to call. He scrunched his nose.

"Definitely princely." He said. Noya grinned and took it off of its stand.

"You'd look great. We're getting it, no objections."

Hinata didn't object as Noya walked straight over to the cashier without even suggesting he try it on. The woman working at the checkout was staring down at her clipboard, writing something Hinata couldn't make out.

"Thank you for coming to _Sweets_ , how can I help you today." She said without looking up.

"Ah, we'd like to buy this?" Hinata pulled out the card his parents had given him before sending him off. The woman looked up and opened her mouth to say something but instantly froze when her eyes met Hinata's. He just smiled.

"Y-yes, of course your highness. Will that be all for today?" She averted her eyes before taking the clothes from Hinata's hands as well of the card, scanning the items.

"Yep." The conversation was awkward entirely and Hinata could tell Noya was trying not to laugh. 

It didn't take too long. The women placed the outfit in a long bag so that it could lay straight out. 

* * *

Another eight days passed and Hinata's foot was healed for the most of it. The sprain hadn't been nearly as bad as it looked.

Currently, Hinata was sprinting down the hallway. His parents might quite literally kill him.

Hinata had been in the garden drawing sketches of flowers he saw while he'd waited for the ball to start. He'd lost track of time. The ball had started four minutes ago, new Kingdoms were being announced and welcomed. Hinata was meant to be there yet he wasn't. With any luck, nobody would've arrived and Hinata would somehow make it in time. 

His shoes clicked as he jumped up the stairs and ran down the hall. His outfit made it harder to run than usual. He repeated the words 'Right, left, second door second floor.' Two more rights and one more left until the ballroom would be in front of him. 

Eventually, he reached the towering white doors with silver handles. Hinata kept walking until he had taken the final right and was now at a smaller, plain dark oak door. He figured it would be best not to come in through the main entrance. His eyebrow twitched with worry and he squeezed his eyes shut before cracking the door open.

**********

Kageyama and his sister stood silently next to their parents. Miwa had gone with a beautiful, flowy navy dress with silver lace on the torso. His family had been the first to arrive.

The ballroom was amazing. Smooth polished floors that made Kageyama almost worry he'd slip, gorgeous chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. The walls were color Kageyama couldn't describe well, a pinkish-brownish white color. The floor reminded him of rose quartz. It was a large room too. There were two places that had almost see through curtains covering it that led to outside balconies. 

Kageyama focused back on the royal family in front of him. The king kept glancing at his watch and the Queen was looking around nervously, Natsu just staring at the ground. What was off? Kageyama couldn't put his finger on it. The King broke the silence.

"Thank you so much for joining us this evening. We are honored to have you here." He bowed and smiled but his nervous look didn't leave his face.

"Of course. We are honored to have been invited." His father responded, giving an equally warm smile. 

The King opened his mouth to say something else when there were quiet foot steps heard. Everybody turned around to the back of the room to see who was making the noise.

Kageyama didn't recognize him immediately. Hinata walked up to his parents sides, specifically between them and Natsu (given he was the older sibling), cheeks flushed with embarrassment. 

Hinata was wearing a suit of some sort that had a white base shirt with a tight, thick black belt around the waist. He didn't know if it were really a belt so much as a strap because there was no buckle or loops, it was just smooth. The shirt continued into something that resembled a skirt that stopped just below his hips. There was a collared jacket that matched, though there was no zipper and it reached short above his waist. There was something that seemed to be a half cape, or slash that went over the shoulder of the outfit that was a dull red. 

Around the neck there was a piece of black metal with gold linings on it that reached down the middle of his chest as if it were a V-neck on a shirt. The white shirt and jacket had gold linings on it as well. He was wearing white pants that weren't loose enough to be trousers. His orange hair was slicked back the best it could, and it worked surprisingly well for how curly his hair was.

Kageyama hadn't done too much with his hair other than parting it and getting it to lay smoothly to the side.

Hinata looked-

Well, he looked like a prince.

Kageyama ignored the heat that came to his cheeks.

Hinata mumbled something to his parents that he couldn't understand, then looked back up to the Sayner kingdom's royalty.

"I'm so sorry, please excuse my tardiness. Thank you for coming." He flashed a smile, the same bright smile he always had and bowed down. He and Kageyama locked eyes for a second and something entered Hinata's eyes that Kageyama couldn't read.

He would've guessed it was the same hatred or distaste as usual, but it wasn't. Kageyama didn't know what this look was.

"That's quite okay, son." Kageyama's father said. The Aonatin King was quick to avoid silence.

"Well, we hope you will enjoy yourselves tonight." He said with a smile. Kageyama's family nodded before walking to the side. Kageyama glanced behind him to see Hinata seemingly apologizing profusely for being late. Kageyama made a mental note to mock him for it later.

Not long after, the ballroom door opened again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two things, one- do you guys have any ideas for angst or some prompt I could use for Hinata and Kageyama to get into an argument or something? I don't have any ideas yet but I definitely want to include something like that-  
> This next one technically has spoilers for the next chapter so if you don't want that then? Stop reading? I don't know-
> 
> If you haven't already seen it in the tags for the story, I originally planned for them to find out their parents are trying to put them into an arranged marriage (I tried to foreshadow it in the beginning but I probably failed) but before I do write that, is that something you guy want me to write? Or would that like- ruin the story? If it would then I'll just take it out lmao


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS I know I originally said they met at 16 but I changed it to 14 so I can add a flashback from 15-
> 
> The point of this is for things to go "fast" if you're like - ThEy LiTeRaLlY HaTeD eAcH oThEr LaSt WeEk - yeah yeah no I'm trying to make it like that whole "feelings hitting them like a train".  
> Also sorry I realize my point of views for third person are kind of all over-
> 
> I want to change the name of this fic because they don't really say "I hate you" plus I don't have angst planned in which they would say that, but I don't know what to change it to. I was thinking maybe "Not in a Romantic Way" as the denial of feelings? or like something I don't know

Kageyama really, really wanted to go home.

He had no clue where to go. He didn't exactly know anybody besides Hinata, and he didn't exactly want to hang out with the redhead the whole time. The only other person he knew (and would much rather avoid) was-

"Tobio-chan!" A voice called from behind him.

Shit. He didn't leave in time. With a huff of irritation, Kageyama turned around.

"Hey, Oikawa." He said. Oikawa was wearing a black vest with a dark, iron red V-collared piece of metal down the front. He wore one turquoise earring on his left ear.

"What a surprise to see you here." Oikawa said, walking to be facing the same way and in line with Kageyama before throwing an arm around his shoulder. Kageyama shrugged him off.

"Not really."

Oikawa just hummed in response. "Where's your date?" Kageyama frowned as Oikawa wore his ever so innocent smile. Kageyama just scowled and turned his head.

Oikawa gave a mock pout. "I'm sure you'll find somebody. Actually, you-"

"So I'm assuming you finally asked Iwaizumi-San out then?" Kageyama interrupted. Oikawa just stared, the corner of his smile twitching in annoyance. Kageyama knew that Oikawa had been pining over the brunette for what, the past 7 years?

"If you must know, I did ask him out." He crossed his arms, gleaming with pride. Kageyama choked on air.

"Really? When?"

"Two weeks ago. He's here now, actually!" He furrowed his brows before adding- "Somewhere..." 

Kageyama looked around the room. There were couples (couples?) chatting, some people just standing around, some people tasting different wines and food items that waiters were carrying for people to grab. No Iwaizumi.

"...Right, I'm going to go then." Kageyama said, avoiding eye contact as he nodded slowly. Oikawa didn't seem to pay much attention as the black haired boy slipped away from the conversation, still scanning the ballroom for any sight of his partner.

Kageyama sighed and walked towards one of the balconies.

"S-sorry!" A faint voice said as Kageyama got closer. He rose an eyebrow. The voice was easily recognizable as Hinata's, even at a distance.

"Here, I can just take it from your phone, I'm a really fast typer!" This voice, however, Kageyama didn't recognize at all. Kageyama scrunched his nose and ducked his head around the corner, looking at the two figures through the thin curtains. Sure enough, Hinata was there.

"I-I really have to go-" Hinata stopped talking mid sentence, his attention snapping over to Kageyama. He couldn't react before he was being dragged out in front of the other man.

§§§

The guest Kingdoms had slowly arrived one by one. Hinata had checked the guest list. The attending Kingdoms were Sayner, Seijoh, Inarizarki, Nekoma, Fukurodani, and Johzenji. Then of course there were the people who weren't invited, simply higher in social class who bought their 'tickets' to attend. Hinata was only familiar with three of those; Sayner (of course), Nekoma, and Inarizarki. The rest were a mystery to him.

There was a type of background music that Hinata wasn't paying much attention to. The dancing wouldn't start until 8:00PM, so for now people were free to socialize, talk to butlers and servants, try different wines and foods.

Hinata wasn't allowed to drink. Technically. Then again, he was the prince. Wine was bitter anyways.

Hinata sighed and walked to the other side of the ballroom. What does one do at a ball, exactly, if you aren't dancing and have nobody in specific to talk to?

A hand on his wrist stopped Hinata from walking the direction he was, and instead pulled him behind one of the curtains and out on the balcony. Hinata whipped his head around only to see a man with slicked back bleached hair with an undercut.

"Uh, can you let go of me?" The distaste was obvious in Hinata's voice. The man did.

"Ah, sorry! I just wanted to get away from the noise."

"And you decided to take me with you?" Hinata tilted his head. The man gave a charming, or what was meant to be charming, smile.

"I'm Terushima Yūji, heir to the throne of Johzenji." The man- Terushima said, ignoring Hinata's question.

"Oh. Er- well, Hinata Shouyou, heir to the throne of Aonatin." Hinata said with an awkward huff of laughter. He didn't want to be outside anymore.

"Figured! Anyways, I'll cut straight to the chase. I think you're really cute, and I was uh- wondering if I could get your number?" Terushima said. Hinata felt his face heat up and his eyes widened. At least he was straightforward.

"Oh, uh- I'm sorry, I'd rather not." Hinata gave the most apologetic smile he could, forcing himself to make eye contact.

"Please? I promise I'm a great guy. You won't regret it!"

Persistent.

Hinata laughed awkwardly. "I'm really sorry, I'm just not looking for a relationship right now." It wasn't a total lie. Hinata wouldn't mind being in a relationship, but this person did _not_ seem right for him just judging by the way he spoke.

"Plus, I have people waiting for me inside so if you could excuse me-"

"C'mon it'll only take a second!" Terushima flashed a bright smile.

"S-sorry!" Hinata smiled as well, the most authentic looking smile he could bear.

"Here, I can just take it from your phone, I'm a really fast typer!"

"I-I really have to go-" Hinata's gaze snapped from the blond in front of him back inside the moment he saw somebody poke his head around the corner behind the curtains leading inside from the corner of his eye.

' _Of course it's him._ ' He thought to himself (he wished that he could've thought it in a negative aspect, but his mind wasn't objected to this at all. He decided to ignore that part), dashing over to the thin curtains and pulling the boy, Kageyama, outside and onto the balcony.

"Boyfriend! I-I have a boyfriend. This is my boyfriend. Who was waiting for me. Like I said earlier...yeah." Hinata internally slapped himself for wording it like that. He linked his arm with Kageyama before twisting his forearm up to wrap around Kageyama's arm further, holding him closer and tighter. He leaned his head on his shoulder. It was too fast for Kageyama to process, but when he did he shot his gaze down to glare at Hinata. He ignored how his stomach twisted into a knot at their closeness.

"Oi, Red, what the fuck are you-" Kageyama stopped talking when Hinata turned his head up to look at Kageyama with a bright, forced smile, his eyes practically begging ' _please go along with it, please go along with it, please go along with it-_ ' Kageyama frowned and looked up the Terushima who was still leaning forward to where Hinata had originally been. Terushima's smile faded into a frown.

"Boyfriend?" He said, his tone scarily suspicious. Hinata tightened his grip on Kageyama's arm and Kageyama worried for a second his circulation would cut off. Terushima's gaze wasn't directed to Hinata anymore, instead towards Kageyama.

Kageyama scowled and crossed his arms, resting his free hand on top of Hinata's. "What's it to you?" 

Terushima instantly plastered his smile to replace his frown.

"Damn it. That sucks." He turned to Hinata. "Well, cutie, if things don't work out you can always send a message to Johzenji." Hinata furrowed his brows in annoyance and his smile became more strained. He gritted out an "uh-huh" sound and watched as Terushima went back inside. Kageyama took his hand off of Hinata's. The redhead stood still, staring at the now empty spot for a few seconds before-

"Red, I think you'll make my arm fall off." Kageyama deadpanned. Hinata's face flushed and he lifted his head off of Kageyama's shoulder, letting go of his arm.

"Cutie is like, the worst possible pet name. Ever." Hinata frowned, talking mainly to himself. Kageyama took a mental note for no specific reason. He looked back up to Kageyama. "Sorry, and thanks. I told him no like four times. Guess he isn't used to rejection." Hinata laughed awkwardly, though he seemed like he genuinely found the situation funny. Kageyama just nodded.

"I would've done it for anyone." He said. Which, no, he definitely would _not_ have let just anyone be that close to him. Physical contact was one of his least favorite things, but for some reason it didn't bother him as much this time.

"I know, idiot. You've made it well clear you don't like me that much." Hinata said with a smile, eyes expressionless. Kageyama shrugged. He told himself that it was true.

Without another word or another glance, Hinata pushed past the wispy curtains and inside the ballroom again. Kageyama walked in as well, but didn't follow him. Not immediately at least.

Hinata looked around all of the people only to see a familiar dirty blond in a suit with the jacket unbuttoned, revealing the red shirt underneath. There was a man next to him that Hinata didn't recognize, a man with black hair. There was a painful obvious height difference.

Hinata shrugged and walked over, placing his hands behind his back.

"Kenma! I'm glad you were able to make it!" Hinata said, a grin immediately overtaking his face as he saw one of his best friends. Kenma turned around to face him and smiled softly as well. The man with the black hair frowned as he looked at Hinata.

"Prince Hinata, I assume?" He said. Hinata stared at him confused, then back to Kenma, then back to him. Then his eyes widened.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, yes, I'm Hinata Shouyou. You must be Kenma-Sans boyfriend then?" Hinata asked with a smile again. The black haired man rose an eyebrow, still frowning. Then he held out his hand.

"Yeah, I'm his fiancé, actually. Kuroo Tetsurō"

Hinata instantly shook his hand his smile only widening.

"It's nice to meet you! I'm glad Kenma found somebody." Kuroo was still frowning suspiciously at Hinata. Then it clicked. Hinata let go of his hand and took a step back.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to give the wrong idea, I'm not trying to be petty or anything. I guess you know me and Kenma dated in the past but I swear that there's no romantic feelings left between us at _all_. In fact I don't even know why we dated, we're much better as friends and-"

A hand from behind clamped over Hinata's mouth.

"You're rambling." The voice said. Hinata twisted his head around only to see none other than Kageyama Tobio frowning at him, one hand behind his back and the other covering Hinata's mouth. 

Hinata slowly reached up and grabbed Kageyama's wrist, pulling it away from his face.

"Sorry..." He mumbled under his breath, looking back up to Kuroo who was looking at Hinata amusedly and Kenma who was dragging his fingers down his face, pulling his eyes.

"Kuro, you're such an asshole." Kenma grumbled. A wide //kind of scary// smile came onto Kuroo's face and he leaned in, face no less than four inches from Hinata's. Hinata stiffened. This was it. He was about to die by a man who's hair was no better than somebody who rolled out of bed. Hinata felt Kageyama stand a bit closer to him, almost defensive. He didn't dwell on why, but his gut felt like it'd been turned inside out as they regained contact

"You're a funny dude, Chibi-chan!"

"Chibi-chan?" Hinata repeated, tilting his head.

Kuroo stood up straight again. "I know you guys are friends even though you dated at some point. Did have my doubts though..." He'd muttered the last part under his breath and Hinata ignored it. Kuroo turned to Kageyama, holding out his hand first this time.

"Kuroo Tetsurō, head knight of Nekoma."

Hinata leaned to Kenma and whispered from the side of his mouth- "When you guys get married, does that make him a prince and a knight?"

Kenma leaned back. "Don't think too hard about it. Your head might burst."

With that, Hinata snapped back straight and nodded.

Kageyama shook Kuroo's hand firmly.

"Kageyama Tobio, Prince of Sayner. Pleasure to meet you." Kageyama was stone faced. Sure, his smile was terrifying, didn't mean he couldn't try. Kenma looked at Hinata, then to Kageyama, then back to Hinata. He furrowed his eyebrows and narrowed his eyes at Hinata and Hinata knew what Kenma was asking, or implying. He shook his head and scrunched his face up in distaste. Kenma nodded and turned back to face the other two as they let go of each other's hands.

Kageyama bowed. "I'm glad to finally meet you, Kozume-san."

"Kenma's fine." Kenma said, glancing to the side. Kageyama pressed his lips into a thin line and a sudden awkwardness fell over the four of them.

"So, are you guys dating then?"  
It was Kuroo who broke the silence.

Kageyama frowned. Why did everybody keep assuming that?

Hinata was about to deny it himself, only to be beaten by Kageyama. "No."

"I don't think they even like each other." Kenma whispered to Kuroo, but not going unnoticed by Hinata. He didn't object.

Hinata had opened his mouth to start a new conversation, but quickly closed it when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around only to see his mother smiling at him.

"Shouyou, accompany me for a moment?" Hinata looked back over the the three men who all shrugged. Looking back to his mother, he smiled fondly and nodded as she linked their arms and dragged him over near one of the exits away from everybody else.

"What is it?" He said the moment she let go of him.

She looked away to the thrones then back to him, hesitant before responding. "We're going to Sayner immediately after the guests leave. I've had Nishinoya pack you some thing that are already on their way over by carriage." Hinata's face twisted, immediately about to object when she continued to talk.

"We were wondering if you wanted to take Ares or ride in the carriage with your father and I. It will be late when we leave." 

Against his better judgement, he asked the question that had been itching on the tip of his tongue. "Is this because of the same reason you and Kageyama's parents keep having meetings?" He knew that it was none of his business and it was disrespectful to ask, but he'd been wondering what was so _goddamn important_ that they kept visiting. 

His mother sighed. "Yes, Shouyou."

"What's it about? I mean, I'm sure to find out soon. Y'know, being your son and everything. Maybe I could help solve whatever the problem is!" Hinata knew that his charm didn't work on his parents (they'd learned how to work around it by the time he was seven, but there were some close chances in the recent years). The look of guilt that washed onto her face didn't go unnoticed by Hinata.

"It's-" She paused and looked to the ground, choosing her words carefully. "It's something that we'll tell you soon. You, and Tobio."

Hinata cocked his head to the side, but found it best not to question further.

"Alright! And yeah, I'll ride Ares. It'll be fine, I swear. My ankle's all better!" Holding up an 'okay' sign with his hand and closing his eyes as he smiled, his mother put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sure it is. Go introduce yourself to some people, now." With a final smile that seemed underline with an emotion Hinata couldn't decipher, she turned back and walked towards her husband. 

§§§

Hinata, in fact, ended up introducing himself to a lot of new people, a few asking if he was the heir's younger brother. He forced lots of smiles after hearing countless apologies, but it didn't bother him. Not too much, anyways.

The voices in the room all fell silent as the clock on the wall rang eight times. 

8:00 already?

Without time to prepare, the song started as an introduction, like a warning for everybody to get ready. Hinata walked over to an empty spot on the ballroom floor. Some dances were meant to be started in lines, but this one specifically was meant to be a synced positioning with every different partner.

Hinata glanced up from the ground when he heard somebody clear their throat. He was greeted with a pair of captivating blue eyes, holding out his left hand. Hinata frowned and narrowed his eyes.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"Give me your hand. It's not that big a deal. People are waiting." Kageyama replied with a bored expression.

"Ask me properly." Hinata gave a smile as Kageyama grimaced.

"No."

"I won't dance with you otherwise."

His eyebrows twitched in annoyance before he reluctantly obliged.

"Can I have this dance...your Highness." Kageyama looked as if he wanted to drop dead, and Hinata didn't doubt that he did. His smile faltered as he realized he couldn't deny even if he wanted to. He could see his parents staring at the two of them intently.

Hinata held back a sigh as he furrowed his brows, placing his right hand in Kageyama's. They adjusted their positioning so that their arms were tilted to face upright, their hands vertical against each other's. 

By the time the music started officially, Kageyama had placed his freehand between Hinata's waist and back, Hinata placed his on Kageyama's shoulder.

"If you mess up, I'll kill you, Red." Kageyama said in a bitter tone. Hinata smiled mockingly.

"Unlike you, _Tobio_ , I happen to have grace in my every step." His tone was teasing, Kageyama raised an eyebrow in amusement.

They didn't break eye contact as they stepped in sync, turning a circle to match with the music. Hinata wasn't sure what this dance was called, but his parents had worked him until it was practically engraved into his brain. 

Hinata slipped his hand into Kageyama's so that there fingers weren't intertwined instead of clasped, letting go of Kageyama's shoulder as they both took one step in the opposite direction, pulling away from each other and quickly coming back, grabbing their free hands as well.

They pulled in so that their faces were just inches from each other. They ignored the heat that came into their faces. Then they pulled away yet again, their gazes following their joined hands.

Hinata subconsciously tuned out the music, though his rhythm still matched both Kageyama and the song perfectly. All he could focus on (no matter how hard he tried to ignore it) was the loud pounding of his heart in his chest. Kageyama couldn't hear that, right?

They re-placed their hands on the others shoulder or waist, other arm reaching out towards the side as they continued to hold hands.

Kageyama stepped left. Hinata stepped right. Hinata stepped back. Kageyama stepped forwards.

Thinking about it, the wording was more confusing than it actually was.

Hinata shot his gaze up to look to the side to see who his next partner would be. There was a man with bleached hair who was currently dancing with a man who had wavy black hair. They were both significantly taller than him. 

He switched his gaze back to Kageyama who had already been looking at him. Kageyama tore his gaze.

They both waited for the change of tune in the song, signaling for the turn. When it finally came, Kageyama gripped onto Hinata's waist tighter before letting go and unlatching their connected hands, turning him towards the blond and ready to grab the other man with black hair.

His breath hitched when the blond man immediately connected their hands and replaced Kageyama's hand on his waist. Their hands were placed differently, Hinata could still feel where Kageyama's hand had been as if it were on fire.

The blond man smiled at him.

"Atsumu." He said simply, voice lowered to a whisper. Hinata smiled.

"Hinata."

It was pretty much the same thing that Hinata had done with Kageyama just with a different partner, pace slightly faster. Then they switched back.

Hinata knew what part of the song was coming and what move went along with it. What he did know, is that unfortunately he was filled in as the "woman's" position in this dance and he sure as hell didn't want to do this part. 

It made him feel much too feminine. Not that there was anything wrong with men being feminine, it's just that everybody - specifically old people - liked to tell him his face made him look like a girl. It got on his nerves.

So when Kageyama was quick to catch Hinata back into his grasp, ready to dip, Hinata interlocked their fingers and put his hand on Kageyama's waist as opposed to his shoulders and dipped him down. 

Kageyama's eyes widened in surprise. It would be no surprise if he'd never been dipped before in a dance. Though he quickly adjusted, putting his hand on Hinata's shoulder and scowling at their new found roles. 

The music was getting louder and faster, it was starting to get annoying. Hinata had heard the song much too often.

The two went back to the same steps from before, slightly sped up and their original steps inverted. They held eye contact, showing no direct emotions on their faces despite a million thoughts running through their mind.

When Hinata pulled Kageyama closer after pulling away he pulled just a little too hard, their noses brushing against each other. Hinata didn't want to think about why he suddenly found it hard to breathe, he'd read enough novels to find the answer that he knew he didn't want.

Kageyama's face was flushed, because he was tired from dancing or from the awkwardness? Hinata didn't know. Kageyama shot Hinata a questioning look, obviously doubting him.  
Bastard.

"You can't." He said under his breath.

"I will." Came the quick response.

And so when the music cut once again as it repeated, Hinata tightened his grip and picked Kageyama up from the ground slightly, spinning him to the side to dance with his new partner. In all honesty Hinata had doubted himself too, but much to his surprise he had lifted Kageyama with ease.

The familiar view of Kenma came into sight, a smile quickly crossing over to his face. Kenma smiled back as well, though not a large one. Not that you can really expect that from him, a half smile was the best Hinata had ever gotten.

Their fingers were clasped like in the beginning rather than intertwined. Once again, same steps but a slower version instead of faster. He and Kenma didn't exchange any words, but Hinata found it slightly relieving to have somebody around the same height as him, it made everything the slightest bit easier.

As they stepped to the side, both of the men moved their glances to look towards Kageyama and Kuroo who were now temporary partners. Turns out they had both been looking at the shorter of the duos, because they both made eye contact with their original partners and quickly looked away, partially in shame. Originally, Kageyama had been looking at Kenma with an expression of resent and annoyance, Kuroo doing the same towards Hinata; though mainly annoyance and most likely a hint of jealousy. 

He didn't know why, but suddenly Hinata felt his friendly smile towards Kenma shift into a smile of amusement, possibly pride. When he looked back to Kenma, the brunette (Hinata didn't know whether to think of him as a blond or a brunette, though his roots were brown) had narrowed eyes directed towards the knight. 

Hinata held back a snicker.

A majority of the time he was dancing with Kenma, Hinata found himself sparing Kageyama a glance every moment he had. He didn't miss the suspicious, maybe even mocking eyes from Kenma. 

And in the split of a second Hinata was in Kageyama's arms once more, both of their faces not revealing anything as always despite their immediate eye contact. The moments he was with Kageyama seemed scarily slow compared to the moments he was with others. Both of them were breathing heavier than usual. Hinata had forgotten just how long the dance was.

Now that they were on the fourth "round", or segment of the dance, the end would be coming near. Hinata wasn't sure if he was mentally prepared for it.

They repeated the same thing they did in the beginning, adjusting their arms to the point they were resting against each other vertically, crossed as they shuffled in a circle. Hinata put folded his other arm behind his back, fist clenched.

Hinata took four steps forward, four steps right while Kageyama took four steps backwards and four steps left, turning so that they were shuffling in a large circle as they stepped synchronously. 

They clasped their hands and held them outwards, leading with them as they stepped in the same direction, one foot crossing behind the other. 

The song started to move into a steady speed just as Kageyama dragged their hands back to their chests, letting go and moving one of his hands to Hinata's back and the other to his waist, Hinata hooking his arm over Kageyama's shoulder and hand on his nape, the other on his shoulder.

And then they dipped, Kageyama's grip on Hinata was tight as to make sure he didn't fall. The song quickly faded out, though each duo that had been dancing remained frozen with one of their partners dipped, waiting for the 'OK'.

The Kings and Queens that had attended burst into a roar of applause. Kageyama and Hinata remained in the position they were, eyes locked for an extra second.

Hinata broke the rather intimate silence with an awkward laugh, tearing his gaze away.

"Yeah. Okay. Cool." The words had fallen out of his mouth, Hinata instantly cringing at his own sentence (if that could even be considered a sentence). Kageyama nodded and looked away as well, moving his arms from Hinata's back to his forearms and helping him stand up straight.

"Cool."

Hinata looked around him. Seems that almost every other duo was in some type of romantic relationship, some giggling around their partner who seemed to be just a stranger, others holding hands. Even Kenma and Kuroo were holding hands, and in the time Hinata had known Kenma, the boy had never really been one for showing affections in public.

Hinata frowned. He and Kageyama were the odd ones out, and he could still feel their parents staring at them. He would never hear the end of this.

"You're a shit dancer." 

Kageyama's sharp voice broke Hinata out of his thoughts.

"Hah?! I was way better than you!" 

"Was not!"

The shorter of the two had opened his mouth to further object, when an arm was thrown around his shoulder.

He froze, gaze locked on Kageyama who was looking back and forth to either side of him. Furrowing his brows, Hinata slowly turned to the side only to see the blond man he danced with earlier. He looked to his other side, and sure enough, the man with black curly hair was there as well.

"...Hey?" Hinata said, turning his head back to Kageyama with a questioning look. Kageyama shrugged.

"Hey! You looked cool earlier so I figured I'd introduce myself formally. I'm Atsumu Miya, prince of my kingdom, Inarizarki." The blond, Atsumu, flashed a smile and tilted his head. Hinata just mirrored the action.

In a different situation, Hinata would've held out his hand to shake or bow. He couldn't exactly do either because of the arm still around his shoulder.

"Oh! And this is my-" He cut himself off early, a confused expression and the slight tint of flush coming over his face though the smile still remained. "-friend. Yeah, this is my friend, Omi-kun." 

Atsumu pulled his hand away and walked behind Hinata to the black haired boy's side. Hinata found himself walking to stand behind Kageyama in means of self protection.

"Sakusa Kiyoomi." He corrected, averting his eyes and partially shrinking into himself. Atsumu laughed to himself.

"He doesn't like crowds that much, it took me ages to convince him to come here with me."

He turned back to Hinata expectantly. Hinata stared dumbfounded and confused before he remembered the obvious thing to do.

"Ah! I'm Hinata Shouyou, prince of Aonatin. This is-" He gestured to Kageyama who was staring at the blond with crossed arms. "Kageyama. Tobio. He's also- my friend?" He had meant for it to sound like a solid statement, but he knew that it wasn't exactly true. 

Kageyama bowed.

"Kageyama Tobio of Sayner, it's nice to meet you."

"Same to you. So, you guys are together then?" Hinata simply closed his eyes and took a deep breath in annoyance, pressing his lips thin and into a smile.

"Nope. How about you two?"

Atsumu's grin fell, a perplexed expression taking over.

"You aren't? But you were so...so." He wove his hands in the air as if that explained everything.

"So..?" Kageyama cocked his head to the side. Atsumu opened his mouth to speak, but quickly clamped his mouth shut again when Sakusa jabbed him in the side. 

"No, we aren't together. I'm just somebody who works for the family." He everted his gaze and Atsumu frowned.

"Right...well, we should probably go. Our parents are staring at us." Hinata said, pointing over to the thrones. Sure enough, their parents were staring, though the four of them quickly looked away and sipped their drinks as they pretended to be engaged in conversation.

"Ah, right. It was nice talking to you, we should keep in contact." 

Hinata smiled. "Yeah, maybe." He stepped out from behind Kageyama and bowed, Kageyama doing the same.

"They seemed nice." Hinata said as they turned around and walked towards their family. Kageyama hummed in agreement.

"Are you sure they weren't together?" He asked. Kageyama rose an eyebrow. 

"They said they weren't?"

"Yeah, but that was clearly a look of love, 'yama! Not that you would know, you lack knowledge in romance. Well, not just romance, but you get the idea."

"I don't 'lack knowledge'! You just read too much. I'm smarter than you anyways." Kageyama took one step to the right, slamming his side into Hinata.

"You're so immature! You're a prince, you should be acting with respect! Not trying to knock me over and make fun of me!" Hinata objected as he stumbled.

"Well you're a prince who shouldn't yell for no reason!"

"You just yelled! You're so full of-" He was quickly cut off by somebody clearing their throat. They both turned their heads to look at each other only to see their mothers staring at them, along with half of the other people in the ball room. Kageyama stood straight and Hinata laughed lightly, sheepishly.

"Hey, mom. Kageyama-san." Hinata said in an awkward greeting.

"Hey." Came Kageyama's simple response. After a few short seconds the other guests continued with what they were doing, attention quickly being taken off of the boys.

"So, you two were dance partners then?" Hinata's mother asked. Hinata nodded.

"We didn't really have much a choice, we were closest to each other and most people already knew who they were going to dance with ahead of time."

The Aonatin Queen completely ignored the comment, changing the subject entirely.

"You boys are right and ready to leave, aren't you? The event should be ending soon, we've just about fifteen minutes before-" She cut off mid sentence, glancing nervously to the woman behind her who nodded.

"-before there's an...announcement, then that will signify the end of the ball. We're leaving almost immediately after."

Kageyama's mother filled in for her.

Hinata just smiled. "Alright! I'm pretty much ready, so..." He looked to Kageyama who just shrugged.

"I've nothing here anyways."

"Alright then! Shouyou, you probably won't have time to talk to Nishinoya before you leave. Off you go, then." 

Hinata nodded and walked off towards the side of the ballroom, Kageyama's expression shifting from that of boredom to one of curiosity. He shot his mother a glance as if asking permission to leave. She simply nodded and Kageyama didn't hesitate to follow Hinata before he got too far.

Quickly stepping to his side, Hinata turned and gave a teasing smile.

"Following me?" 

"Not like I have anything better to do. Where're you going?"

Hinata raised his eyebrow suspiciously before facing forwards again.

"Thought I'd get some air. It's not like anybody will notice if we're gone for a bit."

"You'll get in trouble if you're caught."

"You don't have to come, I'm fine on my own, Kageyama." He only just realized that they'd reached the same door Hinata had came rushing through at the beginning of the evening when the boy had been late. 

Hinata cracked open the door and ducked his head out, checking to make sure nobody was there before slipping out.

Kageyama sighed. He'd have to admit, the ballroom was kind of stuffy and he still wasn't feeling his best after dancing. Really, he didn't have anything better to do, and he'd recently been finding the redhead slightly more tolerable. Slightly.

So he caught the door before it could fully close and stepped out as well, walking the tiniest bit faster to stand by Hinata's side. The two stayed near the side of the wall, partially hidden in case anybody came out at the last minute before re-centering to the middle of the hall. Well, the middle of the side, that is. If they'd walked to out in the open they could be spotted at any moment.

Hinata walked with his hands neatly behind his back, glancing to Kageyama as they walked in silence. Apparently Kageyama had done the same because their eyes met, and Kageyama walked faster.

Hinata scrunched his nose, speeding up to match his pace. Well, maybe he walked a bit faster to be in front of Kageyama.

Kageyama sped up as well, offering a glare. 

Hinata walked to the front. Kageyama walked to the front. Hinata sped up. Kageyama sped up.

And suddenly they were running down the corridor, taking a sharp turn when the end of the hallway came. If their parents saw them, or really anybody, they were sure to get in trouble. Hinata didn't care. 

Hinata was a solid four feet ahead. It was a bad idea to be running in the type of clothes he was wearing, he knew that. It made it both harder to run and it would be terrible if the clothes were messed up. He was too caught up in the moment to pay any attention to the possible consequences.

The redhead spun around with a victorious grin, running backwards and facing Kageyama who was sprinting after him with the trace of a smirk resting on his lips.

They were lucky the halls were long.

"You're so slow!" Came Hinata's breathless taunt.

"Dumbass, you're cheating!" 

Hinata was about to argue, ' _how could I be cheating?_ ' when he stepped on his own foot.

The disadvantage of running backwards was being slowed down and not being able to see where you're going, the thoughts hadn't even entered Hinata's mind.

His eyes widened as he started to fall backwards.

"Falling!" He yelped in alarm, talking mainly to himself. He'd had the habit of narrating small events to himself since he was young.

Hinata reached his hands front of him to grab something to prevent him from hitting the ground. He knew nothing was there.

Except when he was falling to the floor about to make contact, something grabbed his forearm and there was an arm wrapped behind his back. Someone. Hinata stared wide eyed, blinking dumbfounded at the sight of Kageyama in front of him -who looked just as startled. Their faces were impossibly close.

A certain memory from three years ago that should have disappeared from his mind long ago seemed to unlock.

_/// 15 years old ///_

_Hinata slipped the disc into the record player, the song starting immediately. There were a few scratches on the disc, but it should be fine. It was a long song anyways._

_He skipped over to his window and drew the curtains aside, letting the summer warmth seep through his open windows. A light breeze came through, blowing his fringe away from his eyes._

_Spinning on his heels, he slid to the middle of the room and ducked his head to the side. Wooden floors were annoying considering how often he fell from his bed, but it was moments like these he thanked them. The moments he felt like sliding around with socks while he danced like nobody was watching. And nobody ever was. Usually._

_Hinata scooted around the room, snapping his upper body to each other side along with the music._

_Then the door opened._

_"Red, your mom wanted me to tell you- the hell are you doing?" Hinata froze and shot his gaze towards the door, immediately meeting a pair of confused yet intrigued eyes._

_"Auhh- I'm just-" He started to think of an excuse, thinking of what possible way he could explain his current position of his arms in front of him with one leg half in the air, the music continuing._

_Then he smiled and cocked his head to the side, resuming his idiotic style of dancing._

_He dramatically spun and held out his hand towards Kageyama, bowing playfully._

_"Dance with me, Kageyama-kun." He was only half joking. Kageyama grimaced -a common expression, Hinata had noted- and crossed his arms as he stared at Hinata as if he had just proposed they jump off a building, which was fairly plausible._

_"No."_

_"C'mon! Just until the song is over!"_

_"I don't know how to dance."  
_

_"Doesn't matter!"_

_Kageyama swatted away his still extended arm. Hinata frowned and stepped backwards, instantly slipping. He yelped in alarm and reached his hands in front of him to grab anything to prevent him from falling. He knew nothing was there._

_Until there was. Kageyama had lunged forward and grabbed Hinata's hand moments before Hinata had fallen. They both stared wide eyed at each other, their faces impossibly close. Hinata flushed, but didn't bother to see if Kageyama's face resembled his own._

_"..Thank you-" Hinata's thanks was cut off as Kageyama smirked and let go, Hinata dropping down and hitting his head against the floor with a bang._

_He bolted up, sitting upright and rubbing the back of his head._

_"Jackass! You could've just-"_

_"Your mom wanted me to tell you that you're practicing swordsmanship again today." And with that, Kageyama left the room and closed the door behind him. Hinata frowned._

_"Asshole..."_

_///_

This time, Hinata paid attention to the way Kageyama's cheeks turned pink. Slightly.

Kageyama didn't drop him, instead holding him in place so he didn't fall. Hinata noticed his arm involuntarily moving to Kageyama's shoulder. It was as if they were dancing all over again, but this time it was silent other than their heartbeats (though they were sure each individual could only hear their own) rather than the music. 

They held eye contact, searching for everything and nothing. Neither of their expressions gave anything away.

Had they gotten closer? Hinata didn't know. Maybe he was subconsciously leaning forwards, maybe Kageyama was too. His mind was running too fast to know the reality of what was happening, but no, he was painfully aware that his brain wasn't listening to him and Kageyama's face was getting closer to his own. The hand on Hinata's back seemed to be burning through his shirt as it moved closer to his waist.

Hinata glanced at the boy's parted lips, mindful that he was still leaning in.  
 _'What are you doing?'_

He wasn't sure.

He could feel Kageyama's breath against his face.  
 _'Pull away.'_

He doesn't want to.

Kageyama's eye's fluttered closed, Hinata's doing the same.  
 _'You can't.'_

He will.

"Yeah, it's happening tonight, isn't it?" 

The two boys jumped away from each other at the sound of a voice down the hall, Hinata being careful to be sure he doesn't fall backwards as Kageyama let go of him. His heart was beating a million times per second. Probably more. They'd been so close that their noses brushed against each other. A second more and they would've- what would they have done, actually? Hinata knew. He pushed it out of his mind - _tried to_ -.

He glanced at Kageyama who's face was beet red, his was probably redder. He pulled his gaze away and crossed his arms, squeezing them to the point his knuckles turned white. 

Then he realized what had caused them to pull away.

Footsteps became louder down the hall next to them.

"Shit!" Hinata said, mostly under his breath. Discarding the thoughts of definite awkwardness, Hinata grabbed Kageyama's hand and hurried to the other side of the hall and turned the corner, pulling the two behind one of the multiple pillars in the walls deep indents.

Bad idea.

Sure, now they were blocked from whoever's vision while they could still see them, but the indent wasn't exactly made for a person to stand in, much less two. The princes ended up sharing air once again and Hinata thought he would pass out from overheating as his flush only deepened. 

He didn't dare to look at Kageyama. Would it be more awkward to let go of his hand or more awkward to keep holding it? Hinata wasn't sure, but Kageyama didn't let go and his arm felt like it was going to fall off if he moved it. 

A different voice spoke this time.

"That's what Daichi said at the meeting earlier. He said to watch out if we see screaming princes." They laughed at the last sentence, the other joining in.

"Dude, what I would give to see their reactions when it happens." They sighed. "Can't believe we got stuck with hall duty." 

The other just hummed in agreement.

Hinata's face twisted. 

_Screaming princes? Their reaction?_

They were probably talking about him and Kageyama, right? Well, obviously. What other princes are there. 

Whatever they were talking about, it gave Hinata a sick feeling. He glanced over to Kageyama only to see his face resembling Hinata's.

The halls fell silent besides the sound of footsteps and Hinata's heart beat. The sound of shoes clicking against the hard floor got louder as the-presumably guards-got closer. Hinata heard Kageyama's breath hitch as he subconsciously squeezed his hand out of fear and anticipation, but he was too worried to focus on it.

He watched silently as two male staff members he'd never seen before walked past, luckily not turning their heads. Hinata knew that all they had to do was stay silent for a couple more seconds and they would be in the clear.

Then one of the men froze. Hinata held his breath.

"What is it?" The first asked. The man who had turned around just narrowed his eyes. He wouldn't be able to see them, right? Judging by the mans distance, Hinata and Kageyama should be out of sight where they were. 

The man stayed silent. Hinata didn't know why he was so afraid of being caught, maybe he was still on nerve from what had just happened or maybe he just really, really didn't want to be yelled at. It was definitely the second one. Yeah, the second one.

After a few more agonizing seconds, the man shrugged and turned back around, walking again.

"Thought I saw something. Just my imagination, I guess." 

"Probably." 

Hinata let out the breath he'd been holding and hung his head down, his curly hair tickling Kageyama's nose despite it being slicked back. He inhaled again sharply and snapped his head back up.

"Ow! Dumbass, you hit my nose!" Kageyama hissed in a whisper.

"Sorry." A halfhearted response, maybe, but Hinata was still paranoid as he watched the guards turn the corner before stepping out from the indent in the wall, pulling Kageyama out with him.

It was then he realized he and Kageyama's hands were still joined. Hinata just blinked at their hands owlish before quickly letting go and yanking his hand away.

"Sorry!" He cringed at how breathless his voice was. Kageyama just looked away and crossed his arms, tucking the hand he'd been holding underneath. After the four years of knowing Kageyama, Hinata had eventually learned that it takes hell to get Kageyama to blush. Sometimes.

Sometimes it was easy, maybe Hinata would've accidentally slipped his hand under the taller boy's shirt when they were wrestling (it only happened once, leaving Hinata even more mortified) and Kageyama's face would go scarlet and he would quite literally throw Hinata across the room claiming victory. Other times, Kageyama just gave the casual death stare in a moment where Hinata would've melted onto the floor.

That was how it is. Earlier, Kageyama's face had morphed to an expression Hinata had surprisingly seen a fair amount of times. It was alarming how many times Hinata had accidentally put them into awkward or suggestive situations (even thinking about those made Hinata want to throw himself off the balcony).

Now? Kageyama had regained his composure, seemingly set on not becoming flustered again and refusing eye contact, staying two feet away at all times.

Hinata tapped his foot repeatedly, half expecting to be yelled at by Kageyama for "being annoying" though no yelling came. Instead, there was silence. Not the comfortable silence, the type of silence that makes you want to ground to swallow you whole.

"We should- we should probably go back. To the ballroom. In case the...guards...come back." Hinata said. Kageyama just hummed in agreement and started walking the way they came without further comment.

If he was being honest, Hinata also wanted to know what was "happening" tonight. If their parents were announcing something during the ball and in front of the other kingdoms, it was bound to be important, right?

An emotion that Hinata couldn't pin was twisting in his stomach, his chest feeling tight as he watched Kageyama walk away. Now his hands were in fists on either side instead of crossed.

Hinata decided right now that he didn't like whatever feeling it was. It was like a mix of anguish, longing, guilt (did he have a reason to feel guilty? He didn't know.), and something he didn't know. He hated the way it felt, and he hated the way it felt hard to breathe. His face felt hot, but not in the same way it was earlier when he was flushed, instead he felt as if he'd just done something horrible (but he didn't, right? The moment from earlier hadn't been a one sided thing...had it?) 

He didn't want to think about it, instead pushing away the thoughts and ignoring the feeling in his gut, walking to catch up with Kageyama but keeping a distance. Kageyama didn't look back as he re-entered the ballroom, Hinata silently thanked him.

The moment they entered the room, Kageyama's mother ran up to the two of them with a furious expression. Hinata felt his face pale.

The two hadn't blended with the crowd fast enough.

"Where were you two?!" She demanded.

"I was just- we were-" Hinata stammered over his words, struggling to come up with a lie. To his luck, Kageyama quickly filled in.

"I had to go to the bathroom, Hinata showed me where it was."

His mother didn't look convinced.

"Shouldn't you _know_ where the bathroom is by now?" Kageyama just shrugged. The queen sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"It's fine. Just- come over here. Your fathers are announcing something." She didn't make eye contact, only walking up to Hinata's mother. Kageyama and Hinata glanced at each other, both equally curious now that they'd heard of something happening twice now.

And so Hinata walked up to stand next to his sister with a smile at the front of the ballroom. Kageyama had originally stood on the left of Miwa, making Miwa stand between Kageyama and Hinata when the Sayner Queen gently nudged him to stand next to Hinata.

Kageyama frowned, but knew better than to protest.

Hinata's father cleared his throat and clinked two wine glasses together, waiting for the chatter of guests to settle down. All heads turned towards them.

Whatever feeling Hinata was feeling earlier was replaced with a horrible feeling of anticipation, his heart dropping. He suddenly felt strangely out of place, his legs urging him to leave. Multiple pairs of eyes were on him.

"First, we'd like to thank you all for joining us on this pleasant evening, we are ever so gracious that you've come." Came Hinata's fathers booming voice, loud enough so even the people in the back of the room could hear. Hinata resisted the urge to fidget and start tapping his foot again, squeezing his hands that sat neatly behind his back.

"With everybody here, King Kageyama and I found it best to make our announcement tonight." He continued. Hinata felt Kageyama stiffen besides him, as if he knew something that Hinata didn't. Hinata slightly turned his head, silently pleading Kageyama to look back to see if he could read an emotion. The moment he made eye contact with the raven haired boy, he regretted it.

Kageyama's eyes were full of slight horror and dread, his face pale. In simpler words, the boy looked at if he were about to either vomit or pass out. Possibly both.

Hinata's own eyes widened, frowning. Did Kageyama really know something already? He couldn't help feel a little betrayed that the boy hadn't told him, but he was more focused on Kageyama's expression. It was something that Hinata would never think he would see on his face.

"We'd like to officially announce the marriage of the princes' Hinata Shouyou and Kageyama Tobio."

Hinata's face dropped to one that betrayed no direct emotion. Hinata didn't know what he was feeling anyways. The silence of the ballroom was quickly shattered as people erupted into applause, but Hinata wasn't focusing on that. 

The sound was slowly drowned out, replaced with a ringing sound that was only getting louder in his ear. Hinata didn't feel like he could move, didn't feel like he could talk. He could only stare mindlessly at the back wall. He couldn't keep a single thought in place, his head feeling heavy.

_"marriage of the princes' Hinata Shouyou and Kageyama Tobio."_

_  
" ~~...Hinata Shouyou and Kageyama Tobio."~~_

Hinata's hands that had once been stiff behind his back, holding one another slowly loosened and dropped by his sides.

A marriage between him and Kageyama? Is that what the countless meetings had been about? Is that why their parents had been so insistent on putting them in situations they'd be together? Had they really been planning this for that long?

Hinata couldn't help but wonder why. Maybe it was a joke, more as false news as a way to gain attention ( _Hinata couldn't think of a single reason the kingdoms needed attention_ ). Maybe this was a dream ( _Hinata knew he wasn't dreaming_ ). Maybe his parents went out of their minds and didn't know what they were talking about ( _highly doubtable_ ).

A sharp elbow to the side snapped Hinata out of his thoughts. He wearily turned his head to the side he'd been elbowed from, only to see Natsu looking at him with a strained smile, looking from him to the crowd and back to him.

Hinata was suddenly aware that he was probably going to ruin the-apparently upbeat and celebratory-mood of the crowd if he kept staring mindlessly at the wall. 

So he forced a smile, a smile that kept wavering. The ringing in his ears didn't fade, he was just conscious of the congratulating cheers and claps of people. Was he trembling? The gross feeling of anticipation he'd felt earlier was suddenly overwhelmingly present.

His mind not listening to him, he turned to Kageyama only to see the boy's face resembling the one from earlier. He still looked sick, like he were about to pass out, but he also looked incredulously annoyed. He didn't look back, but Hinata knew that he felt his gaze burning into his cheek. 

People cheered drinks, splashes of wine hitting the floor that somebody would clean up later. Hinata's mind still didn't seem to be functioning right, a palm pressing against his back that he recognized to be his mother's. Following the hands guidance, Hinata bowed down as his expression stayed frozen. 

Not waiting for his mother or father, or anybody really, to say it was okay, Hinata turned and walked away from the front of the room. He didn't care what his parents might've said to him in a possible way to explain themselves, he couldn't help but feel pissed, his anger rising the more he thought about it.

He maintained his smile, his cheeks starting to hurt as his gaze darted from person to person around the room until it eventually fell to a cat-like pair. The moment he and Kenma made eye contact, Hinata dropped his smile and walked more hurriedly to the boy. Both him and Kuroo were looking at him with a concerned shimmer in their eyes. Hinata turned around momentarily, only seeing two brunettes; one of them with lighter, wavy brown hair that fell just in front of his eyes and the other with darker, spiky brown hair. The two of them rushed over to Kageyama. Hinata didn't want to look at them anymore.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to meet Kuroo's eyes.

"Did you know?" Came the soft, almost cautious voice. He felt Kenma's eyes on him as well, searching for an answer before he said it.

Hinata slowly shook his head, letting out a humorless laugh. The ringing came back again, a headache steadily forming from too many and not any thoughts at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In the beginning of the fic, I don't know if anybody remembers but I had Kageyama suspect something was going to happen (which was the marriage) which is why he already looked sick or whatever before it was announced, he'd already thought his parents were going to say that.
> 
> I'm so sorry this chapter took nearly a month to come out, and I'll try to get back on track but I can't guarantee it. Y'know, mental things and lack of motivation for writing but I promise this fic will be completed! I think you guys will like chapter 8-
> 
> GUYS don't expect a ceremony, because seeing they weren't in a relationship it's just going to be some signing of papers (but maybe after they "get together" or act on their romantic feelings they'll have a real ceremony...)


End file.
